Les MiserPotter
by LuckyxLabradoodlexLoverx7
Summary: AU: The story of Les Miserables using Harry Potter characters. Rated T for future chapters and because I'm paranoid. Some lyrics have been changed or altered.
1. Overture & Work Song

Disclaimer – I own nothing of Harry Potter or Les Miserables. They belong to their respected owners. 'Nuff said.

_**Italics **_are song lyrics and thoughts.

A/N: I couldn't sleep one night, so I came up with this idea.

A/N 2: Cast of Characters:

Valjean – Sirius

Javert – Severus Snape

Book Keeper – Hagrid

Bishop – Dumbledore

Guards – James & Wormtail

Factory Foreman – Vernon

Factory Woman – Fleur

Fantine – Penelope Clearwater

Fauchelevant – Xenophilius Lovegood

Fantine's Lover – Percy

Pimp – Lucius Malfoy

Whores – Hermione, Lavender, Pansy, Cho

Barber – Fred

Tooth Puller – Bill

Young Cosette/Older Cosette – Luna

Young Eponine/Older Eponine – Ginny

Madame Thenardier – Umbridge

Monsieur Thenardier – Aberforth

Whores in Look Down – Bellatrix & Narcissa

Pimp in Look Down – Arthur

Gavroche – Colin Creevey

Enjolras – Ron

Marius – Harry

Grantaire – Seamus

Courfrayac – Cedric

Prouvaire – George

Joly – Dean

Marius' Uncle – Remus

Thenardier's Gang:

Montparnasse – Draco

Brujean – Crabbe

Babet – Goyle

Claxquesue – Blaise Zambini

A/N 3: Songs – Act 1:

Overture/Work Song – Chain Gang, Sirius & Severus

The Bishop – Dumbledore & Sirius

Sirius' Arrest – Guards & Dumbledore

What Have I Done? – Sirius

At the End of the Day – Factory Workers, Vernon, Fleur, Sirius & Penelope

Runaway Cart – Sirius, Xenophilius & Severus

Lovely Ladies – Whores, Pimps & Penelope

I Dreamed a Dream – Penelope

Fantine's Arrest – Lucius, Penelope, Sirius & Severus

Who Am I? – Sirius

Fantine's Death – Penelope & Sirius

The Confrontation – Severus & Sirius

Castle on a Cloud – Luna & Umbridge

Master of the House – Aberforth, Umbridge & Patrons

Waltz of Treachery – Aberforth, Umbridge & Sirius

Suddenly – Sirius

Stars – Severus

Look Down – Colin, Ron, Harry, the poor, two whores, pimp & students

The Robbery/Javert's Arrival – Aberforth, Umbridge, Aberforth's gang, Ginny & Severus

ABC Café/Red and Black – Ron, Harry & students

Do You Hear the People Sing? – Ron & students

In My Life – Luna, Sirius, Harry & Ginny

A Heart Full of Love – Harry, Ginny & Luna

The Attack on Rue Plummet – Aberforth, the gang, Ginny, Luna, Harry & Sirius

One Day More – full company

Songs – Act 2:

Building the Barricade/Eponine's Errand – students, Harry & Ginny/Ginny & Sirius

On My Own – Ginny

Javert's Arrival/Little People – Severus, Students & Colin

A Little Fall of Rain – Harry & Ginny

Night of Anguish – Ron, Harry & Students

Valjean's Arrival/First Attack – Sirius & Students

Dawn of Anguish – Ron

Drink With Me – Ron, Seamus, Harry & Students

Second Attack (Death of Gavroche) – Sirius, Colin, Harry, Seamus & Students

Bring Him Home – Sirius

Final Attack – Students

Javert's Suicide – Severus

Turning – Women of the Company

Empty Chairs at Empty Tables – Harry

Valjean's Confession – Sirius & Harry

Everyday/A Heart Full of Love (Reprise) – Harry, Remus, Luna & Sirius

Wedding Chorale/Beggars at the Feast – company, Umbridge, Aberforth & Harry

Finale – Sirius, Penelope, Dumbledore, Ginny, Harry, Luna & company

Summary: AU: The story of Les Miserables using Harry Potter characters. Rated T for future chapters and because I'm paranoid. Some lyrics have been changed or altered.

Genre: General/None

Rating: T

* * *

CHAPTER ONE  
(chapter title – Overture/Work Song)

Sirius Black grunted as he and the other prisoners of Azkaban brought in a large cargo ship. They were all chained together and moved in unison. Every once in a while, Sirius would look up at the guards and saw Severus. The two of them absolutely despised each other since Sirius came to Azkaban nineteen years ago. He had stolen a loaf of bread for his starving family.

Sirius wiped the back of his hand across his forehead as the other prisoners and himself continued to bring the large cargo ship into Azkaban's cargo bay.

"_Look down, look down  
Don't look them in the eye  
Look down, look down  
You're here until you die_!" Sirius and the other prisoners sang.

"_No God above, only hell below_!" the prisoner behind Sirius sang.

"_Look down, look down  
There's twenty years to go_." The prisoners and Sirius sang. Sirius glared up at the guards and saw Severus walking on the edge of the wall. Severus was dressed in a blue uniform, complete with a blue hat.

"_I've done no wrong  
Sweet Merlin hear my prayer_!" the prisoner to Sirius' right belted out.

"_Look down, look down  
Sweet Merlin doesn't care_!" everyone sang.

"_I know she'll wait  
I know that she'll be true_!" a prisoner near the back of Sirius' line sang, his voice landing on Sirius' ears like a sweet melody.

"_Look down, look down  
They've all forgotten you_." Sirius and the others sang.

"_When I get free, you won't see me  
Here for dust_!" a prisoner from the very last line sang loudly as the waves crashed over the prisoners.

"_Look down, look down  
Don't look them in the eye_." The prisoners continued singing.

"_How long, oh Lord  
Before you let me die_?" a prisoner to Sirius' left sang, his voice garbled due to a wave crashing yet again.

The prisoners were now done with their work and were heading back to their cells.

"_Look down, look down  
You'll always be a slave  
Look down, look down  
You're standing in your grave_." The prisoners sang as they went back to their cells. Severus stepped in front of Sirius and put his billy club to Sirius' chest.

"Retrieve the flag." Severus told Sirius, indicating to the flag of Azkaban on the ground not five feet away. Sirius lifted it with great difficulty and dragged it over. "_Now, prisoner 24601. Your time is up and your parole's begun._ You know what that means?"

"_Yes, it means I'm free_!" Sirius told Severus, feeling the shackles around his wrists tightening.

"No! _It means you get your yellow ticket of leave_." Severus said, shoving a piece of yellow parchment into Sirius' hand. "_You are a thief_!"

"_I stole a loaf of bread_!" Sirius argued, feeling his anger rising.

"_You robbed a house_!" Severus argued back.

"_I broke a window pane_!" Sirius told the Inspector. "_My sister's child was close to death and we were starving_!"

"_You will starve again  
Unless you learn the meaning of the law_!" Severus told Sirius.

"_I know the meaning of those nineteen years_." Sirius sang, glaring at the Inspector. "_A slave of the law_!"

"_Five years for what you did! The rest because you tried to run!_" Severus reminded Sirius, who rolled his eyes. "_Yes, 24601!_"

"My name is Sirius Black!" Sirius told Severus, his voice quaking with anger.

"_And I am Severus!_" Severus told Sirius, poking him in the chest with his billy club. "_Do not forget my name! Do not forget me! 24601_!"

A guard unchained Sirius and retrieved Sirius' things. He then went into a private room to change into his old clothes. They were a little snug, but they still fit. Sirius then picked up the yellow slip of paper and exited Azkaban.

_Look down, look down  
You'll always be a slave  
Look down, look down  
You're standing in your grave_

A large man was waiting for Sirius before he stepped out of Azkaban's gates. He led Sirius to a quiet office and stamped his parchment.

"Report to Little Whinging in thirty days," the man told Sirius. When Sirius was out of the office, two guards came forward. The man turned to the guards, "Follow him."

The guards trailed Sirius on horseback, but stayed out of sight.

Sirius walked until the evening shadows fell. He stopped for a moment and saw a little stream and took a sip. The cool water ran down his throat, making him close his eyes in delight. A cool breeze played with Sirius' hair, which made him smile. It had been nineteen long years since Sirius felt a breeze like this.

"_Freedom is mine, the Earth is still  
I feel the wind, I breathe again  
And the sky clears, the world is waking  
Drink from the pool, how clean the taste  
Never forget the years, the waste  
Nor forgive them for what they've done  
They are the guilty, every one!  
The day begins and now let's see  
What this new world will do for me_!" Sirius sang to himself. He took a deep breath, adjusted the sack on his back and took a step.

The first thing Sirius did was find work. The first man that Sirius encountered scowled at Sirius when he presented the man with his yellow piece of parchment.

"No work here." The man told Sirius, making a shooing motion with his hand. Sirius sighed and went on.

It was like that the rest of the day. Now, Sirius tried to find a place to stay for the night.

"No! Get out!" the innkeeper told Sirius. He gathered his things and went on his way.


	2. The Bishop

CHAPTER TWO  
(chapter title – The Bishop)

A light snow was beginning to fall as Sirius stumbled into a church yard. He found a quiet place to lay down when a bright light made him sit up, then stand up.

A very kind and old man smiled at Sirius. The man was dressed in deep purple robes with white accents. A large cross hung around the old man's neck on a silver chain. Sirius figured he was some sort of religious figure. From the way he carried himself, Sirius figured out he was a bishop.

"_Come in sir, for you are weary  
And the night is cold out there  
Though our lives are very humble  
What we have we have to share_." The bishop told Sirius, leading him inside. Sirius closed his eyes and felt the warmth of a fire. Two ladies looked at Sirius as he and the bishop continued to walk through the house. Cooking food greeted Sirius' nostrils. "_There is wine here to revive you. There is bread to make you strong. There's a bed to rest til morning. Rest from pain and rest from wrong_."

The bishop, his sister, housekeeper and Sirius were now seated around a table, ready to eat supper. Sirius was already stuffing his face with delicious food.

"May we bless this food that our dear sister has prepared for us. Amen." The bishop prayed. Sirius quickly stopped eating and bowed his head, waiting for a sign that he could eat.

That night, when the bishop and the women were asleep, Sirius stole some silver and ran as fast as he could.

He had gotten to the gates of the city when two guards caught him. They brought him back to the bishop's house and threw Sirius on the ground. The bishop stood up and looked at Sirius. He had a great bloody gash on his forehead and smaller gashes on his arms, hands, legs and feet.

"_Tell His Reverence your story_." One of the guards demanded.

"_Let us see if he's impressed_." The other guard said.

"_You were lodging there last night_." The first one told Sirius, holding his head down. Sirius struggled and grunted in pain. The Bishop stood, not knowing what he could do for this poor fellow.

"_You were the Honest Bishop's guest  
And then out of Christian goodness_." The second guard said.

"_When he learned about your plight_." The first guard cut off the second guard's sentence.

"_You maintain he made a present of this silver_." The second guard told Sirius, hitting him on the back of the head. The bishop raised his hand to stop the beating of Sirius.

"_That is right_," he told the guards. He then turned to Sirius. "_But my friend you left so early, surely something slipped your mind_," he handed Sirius a pair of silver candlesticks. "_You forgot I gave these also. Would you leave the best behind_?" he turned to the guards. "_So, good sirs, you may release him. For this man has spoken true. I commend you for your duty. And Merlin's blessing go with you_." The guards unchained Sirius and exited the church, just as the Bishop blessed them.

When they left, the Bishop turned his full attention to Sirius.

"_But remember this my brother  
See in this some higher plan  
You must use this precious silver  
To become an honest man  
By the witness of the martyrs  
By the Passion and the Blood  
Merlin has raised you out of darkness  
I have saved your soul for Merlin_." The Bishop sang to Sirius. Sirius bowed his head as the Bishop blessed him.

He took the Bishop's words to heart as he fell asleep that night.


	3. What Have I Done?

CHAPTER THREE  
(chapter title – What Have I Done?)

The following day, Sirius gathered his things and took a walk around the church. Angels of every form looked down on him from all corners of the church.

"_What have I done, sweet Merlin, what have I done?  
Become a thief in the night, become a dog on the run  
Have I fallen so far and is the hour so late  
That nothing remains but the cries of my hate  
The cries in the dark that nobody hears  
Here I stand at the turning of the years_

_If there's another way to go  
I missed it twenty long years ago  
My life was a war that I will never get back  
They gave me a number, murdered Sirius Black  
When they chained me and left me for dead  
Just for stealing a mouthful of bread_." Sirius' angry thoughts melted when he thought of the Bishop. He was forever grateful to him.

He said his goodbyes to the Bishop, the Bishop's sister and housekeeper before journeying into the setting sun. The landscape before him looked like a picture in the setting sun.

"_Yet why did I allow this man  
To touch my soul and teach me love?  
He treated me like any other  
He gave me his trust  
He called me brother  
My life he claims for Merlin above  
Can such things be?  
For I have come to hate this world  
This world that always hated me_

_Take an eye for an eye!  
Turn your heart into stone!  
This is all I have lived for!  
This is all I have known!_" Sirius' thoughts went again to the Bishop. "_One word from him and I'd be back. Beneath the lash, upon the rack. Instead he offers me my freedom. I feel my shame inside me like a knife._"

"_He told me that I have a soul  
How does he know?  
What spirit comes to move my life?  
Is there another way to go?_

_I am reaching but I fall  
And the night is closing in  
As I stare into the void  
To the whirlpool of my sin  
I'll escape now from that world  
From the world of Sirius Black  
Sirius Black is nothing now!  
Another story must begin_!" Sirius held the last note as he tore up the yellow piece of parchment he had carried with him since his release. The pieces blew into the wind and disappeared.


	4. At The End of the Day

CHAPTER FOUR  
(chapter title – At the End of the Day)

_Ten years later_

Sirius Black had made a name for himself in a small town called Hogsmeade. He had changed his appearance and name. His shaggy black hair was cut short and he dressed in a more appropriate attire. He had started going by Sir Lockhart and owned a fabric-making factory.

As for Severus, he never stopped looking for Sirius. He tracked the convict to Hogsmeade and planned on reveling his true identity to the public as soon as possible.

Outside the factory gates, the workers were huddled together for warmth. Severus and two guards galloped by on their beautiful black horses, not caring if they ran over the workers or the poor.

"_At the end of the day you're another day older  
And that's all you can say for the life of the poor  
It's a struggle, it's a war  
And there's nothing that anyone's giving  
One more day standing about, what is it for?  
One day less to be living._

_At the end of the day, you're another day colder  
And the shirt on your back doesn't keep out the chill  
And the righteous hurry past  
They don't hear the little one's crying  
And the winter is coming on fast, ready to kill  
One day nearer to dying_!" the poor sang. The factory gates opened and the workers quickly entered. The poor went to the sides of the gates, wanting food, money or both.

"_At the end of the day, there's another day dawning  
And the sun in the morning is ready to rise  
Like the waves crash on the sand  
Like a storm that'll break any second  
There's a hunger in the land  
There's a reckoning still to be reckoned  
And there's gonna be hell to pay  
At the end of the day_!" the workers sang as they went to their stations.

Meanwhile inside the factory, at fourteen long wooden tables, women stood, sewing jewelry, making fabric, dying fabric and doing whatever else Vernon told them to do. Vernon was the foreman and not a very nice man.

Penelope – or Penny to her friends – was standing at her station, currently sewing buttons onto a sweater.

"_At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing  
Sitting flat on your bum doesn't buy any bread_." Vernon whispered in each of the women's ears, cupping his hands around their bottoms.

"_There are children back at home! And the children have got to be fed! And you're lucky to be in a job_!" Fleur and some of the other women told Vernon. He smiled and came over to Penny's station.

"_And in a bed_." Vernon whispered in Penny's ear, making her jump.

"_And we're counting our blessings_!" the workers told Vernon.

Fleur looked up from dying fabric and turned to the girl next to her.

"_Have you seen how the foreman is fuming today?  
With his terrible breath and his wandering hands_?" Fleur told the woman, watching Vernon interact with Penny.

"_It's because little Penny won't give him his way_." The woman, Lily, told Fleur.

"Take a look at his trousers, you'll see where he stands!" Fleur whispered in Lily's ear. She held back laughter as two other women – Petunia and Minerva – made their way over.

"_And the boss, he never knows, the foreman is always on heat_!" Petunia sang.

"_If Penny doesn't look out  
Watch how she goes  
She'll be out on the street_." Fleur told the women, an evil smile spreading across her face.

Before they knew it, work was finished. They took off their smocks, along with the hats they wore to protect their hair. Penny remembered her letter from the Umbridge's she received that morning.

"_At the end of the day it's another day over  
With enough in your pocket to last for a week  
Pay the landlord, pay the shop  
Keep on working as long as you're able  
Keep on working til you drop  
Or it's back to crumbs on the table  
You've got to pay your way  
At the end of the day_!" all the factory women sang. Fleur walked next to Penny and took the letter without Penny noticing.

"What have we here, little innocent sister?  
Come on, Penny, let's have all the news!" Fleur told Penny, opening the letter. Penny tried to get it, but Petunia and Lily held her firmly on her upper arms. "Dear Penny you must send us more money…Your child needs a doctor…There's no time to lose!"

"_Give that letter to me it is none of your business  
With a husband at home and a bit on the side  
Is there anyone here who can swear before Merlin  
She has nothing to fear?  
She has nothing to hide_!" Penny told the other workers. She broke out of Lily and Petunia's grasp and lunged for Fleur.

The two women fought over the letter before Vernon came over. The bell above the factory door rang and Sirius Black entered, posing as Sir Lockhart.

"Sir Lockhart's here!" Vernon announced as Sirius removed his top hat. Sirius saw the two women fighting and went over to break it up.

"_What is this fighting all about?  
Will someone tear these two apart?  
This is a factory, not a circus!  
Now, come on ladies, settle down  
I am in charge of this town  
I run a business of repute_." Sirius sang, standing between the women and had a hand on each one's arm. He then turned to Vernon. "Deal with this foreman and be as patient as you can."

"Yes, Sir Lockhart," Vernon told Sirius, watching him climb the stairs to his office. He then turned back to Fleur and Penny. "_Now someone say how this began_!"

"_At the end of the day she's the one who began it  
There's a kid that she's hiding in some little town  
There's a man she has to pay  
You can guess how she picks up the extra  
You can bet she's earning her keep, sleeping around  
And the boss wouldn't like it_." Fleur told Vernon. He narrowed his beady eyes at Penny. She took a deep breath and felt tears in her eyes.

"_Yes, it's true there's a child  
And the child is my daughter  
And her father abandoned us, leaving us flat  
Now, she lives with an innkeeper man and his wife  
And I pay for the child, what's the matter with that_?" Penny sang as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"_At the end of the day she'll be nothing but trouble  
And there's trouble for all and there's trouble for one  
While we're earning our daily bread  
She's the one with her hands in the butter  
You must send the slut away  
Or we're all gonna end in the gutter  
And it's us who'll have to pay  
At the end of the day_!" the women sang, glaring at Penny. Vernon grabbed the tops of Penny's arms and got right in her face.

"_I might have known the bitch could bite  
I might have known the cat had claws  
I might have guessed your little secret  
Ah, yes, the virtuous Penny  
Who keeps herself so pure and clean  
You'd be the cause I have no doubt  
Of any trouble hereabout  
You play a virgin in the night  
But need no urgin' in the night_." Vernon sang softly to Penny. She reared her head back and spat in his face. Vernon's face turned the shade of a ripe tomato.

"She's been laughing at you while she's having her men!" Fleur told Vernon.

"_She'll be nothing but trouble again and again_!" the women sang.

"_You must sack her today  
Sack the girl today_!" all the workers told Vernon. He grabbed her arm, some silver and opened the door.

"Right my girl! On your way!" Vernon told Penny, throwing her out into the street, along with the silver pieces.

"Sir Lockhart! I have a child! Please help me!" Penny pleaded. She sobbed as she picked herself up and went on her way.


	5. The Runaway Cart

CHAPTER FIVE  
(chapter title – The Runaway Cart)

Meanwhile, up in Sirius' office, he was speaking to Inspector Severus. The conversation was going well, until there were screams and shouts from people downstairs. The two men looked at each other and raced down the stairs. There was a cart with barrels on it and two horses not too far away.

"There's someone trapped under there!" a woman shouted. Sirius handed his coat to a random person and got on his hands and knees. Under the cart was a blond-haired middle aged man trapped beneath it.

"Is there anyone here who will rescue the man?" Sirius asked the growing crowd.

"Don't go near him, Sir Lockhart! The load is heavy as hell!" a man warned.

"That man's a goner for sure! It'll kill you as well!" a woman spoke up.

Sirius ignored their pleas and got under the cart. Little by little, the cart was raised. Sirius could feel his face growing red as he lifted the cart a little higher.

Xenophilius crawled out from under the cart and stood up. Sirius felt his face return to its normal color as the other man hugged him.

"Sir Lovegood! You come from Merlin! You are a saint!" Xenophilius told Sirius, hugging him again. Sirius smiled and hugged Xenophilius.

From a quiet corner, away from the goings on, Severus watched the scene unfold before him. He could've sworn he saw _24601 _tattooed on Sir Lockhart's chest, but he didn't think on it too hard.

Sirius put his jacket back on and was about to head to his apartment for the night when Severus walked up beside him and took him aside.

"_Can this be true? I don't believe what I see!  
A man your age to be as strong as you are  
A memory stirs…You make me think of a man  
From years ago  
A man who broke his parole  
He disappeared_!" Severus told Sirius. Sirius felt his blood run cold. Severus shook his head and smiled. "_Forgive me, Sir, I would not dare_!"

"Say what you must, don't leave it there." Sirius encouraged the Inspector.

"_I have only known one other  
Who can do what you have done  
He's a convict from the chain gang  
He's been ten years on the run  
But he couldn't run forever  
We have found his hideaway  
And he's just been rearrested  
And he comes to court today  
Of course, he now denies it  
You'd expect that of this jack  
But he couldn't run forever  
No – not even Sirius Black_!" Severus sang to Sirius. Sirius felt his stomach tighten – he didn't know how in the world Inspector Severus found him. He had been extremely careful about who he talked to, where he stayed and where he went.

"You say this man denies it all  
And gives no sign of understanding or repentance  
You say this man is going to trial  
And that he's sure to be returned to serve his sentence?  
Come to that, can you be sure, that I am not your man?" Sirius asked the Inspector. Severus grinned evilly.

"_I have known the thief for ages  
Tracked him down through thick and thin  
And to make matters certain  
There's the brand upon his skin  
He will bend, he will break  
This time there is no mistake_!" Severus told Sirius.

That night, Sirius could not sleep. The trial for his "arrest" was in a couple days. Until this was cleared up, there was no way that he could sleep.


	6. Lovely Ladies

CHAPTER SIX  
(chapter title – Lovely Ladies)

Penny briskly walked back to her apartment. She stopped when she saw the shipyard. She knew this is where the prostitutes lived.

"How much for this?" Penny asked a man with gold teeth. She brought out the locket she wore and opened it. A lock of golden hair, similar to Penny's fell out of the locket, "It's my daughter's."

"Five Sickles." The man answered.

"It's worth at least ten!" Penny argued. The man and Penny bartered for a while before settling on a final price. She handed the locket to him just as three sailors came down the stairs, knocking Penny over. She retrieved the lock of Luna's hair and handed it to the man she sold her locket to.

"_I smell women  
Smell 'em in the air  
Think I'll drop my  
Anchor in that harbor  
Over there_." One of the sailors told his friends.

"_Lovely ladies  
I'll love ya til I'm broke  
Seven months at sea  
Can make you hungry  
For a poke_!" another sailor commented.

"Even stokers need a little stoke!" a third sailor told the other two.

Just then, a handful of prostitutes came out of nowhere. Penny looked around, frightened. She looked for an escape, but the prostitutes blocked her path. She tried pushing past them, but they were too strong.

"_Lovely ladies  
Waiting for a bite  
Waiting for the customers  
Who only come at night  
Lovely ladies  
Ready for the call  
Standing up or lying down  
Or any way at all  
Bargain prices up against the wall_." The prostitutes sang, rubbing their bodies against the doorways of the stone building that looked over the ship yard.

A young man with red hair and bad teeth came over and admired Penny's long golden-blond hair. Penny had been growing it out since she was a little girl. It stopped at the small of her back.

"What pretty hair, what pretty locks you've got there  
What luck you've got, it's worth six Galleons my dear  
I'll take the lot!" the gentleman told Penny, admiring her hair.

"Don't touch me! Leave me alone!" Penny commanded.

"Let's make a price, I'll give you all of ten Sickles  
Just think of that!" the man told her, running his tongue over his lips.

"It pays a debt." Penny told him as he led her to his chair.

"Just think of that!" the gentleman told Penny, readying his scissors.

"What can I do? It pays a debt! Ten Sickles may save my poor Luna!" Penny said as the gentleman cut her hair so it was styled like a man's. Her hair would make a wonderful wig.

Penny sobbed after the man cut her hair. She felt odd without it and hoped that when she saw Luna, her little girl would recognize her.

"_Lovely ladies  
Waiting in the dark  
Ready for a thick one  
Or a quick one in the park  
Long time, short time  
Any time my dear  
Cost a little extra if you want to take all year!  
Quick and cheap is underneath the pier_!" the prostitutes sang to Penny.

Penny had been with the prostitutes for a month and still didn't feel like she fit in. She had made friends with four of the prostitutes – Hermione, Lavender, Pansy and Cho.

Penny was out walking and saw the tooth puller. She knew that there was good money in teeth. The tooth puller – Bill – removed his hat and walked over to Penny.

"Come over here, it's twenty Sickles for a tooth!" Bill told Penny. She was contemplating selling her back teeth to send more money to the Umbridge's.

"Come here, my dear. I'll pay you well for your youth." Hermione told Penny. Lavender came up behind Penny, assuring her things would be fine.

"The pain won't last. You'll still be able to bite." Bill told Penny as she inched closer to him.

"Just the back ones." Lavender whispered in Bill's ear.

"I'll do it fast. I know my business alright. It's worth a go!" Bill said, looking Penny up and down. She shivered.

"You'll pay me first what I am due!" Penny told Bill.

"You'll get twice if I take two!" Bill told her as he and Lavender forced her onto the chair. Penny screamed as two of her back teeth were extracted.

She was now holding cold water on her jaw as a pimp, Hermione, Lavender, Cho and Pansy talked about her.

"Give me the dirt, who's that bit over there?" Charlie – the pimp – asked.

"A bit of skirt, she's the one sold her hair." Hermione told him, leaning against him.

"She's got a kid, sends her all that she can." Lavender spoke up, stumbling over to them.

"I might have known  
There is always some man  
Lovely lady, come along and join us!  
Lovely lady!" Charlie told Penny, putting his fingers under her chin. Penny moved away and wiped her cheek. Charlie sighed and walked away.

"Come on, dearie, why all the fuss?  
You're no grander than the rest of us." Cho told Penny.

"Life has dropped you at the bottom of the heap  
Join your sisters! Make Galleons in your sleep!" Pansy said.

"That's right dearie, show him what you've got!" Hermione told Penny.

"That's right dearie, let him have the lot!" Lavender whispered in Penny's ear. Hermione and Cho helped Penny stand. She stumbled a few feet before running into Charlie. He smiled, took her hand and led her off someplace.

"_Old men, young men, take 'em as they come!  
Harbor rats and alley cats and every kind of scum!  
Poor men, rich men, leaders of the land!  
See them with their trousers off, they're never quite as grand!  
All it takes is money in your hand_!" all the prostitutes sang. Penny and Charlie made an appearance. Charlie took Penny's hand and led her to a young sailor who was waiting for her.

"_Lovely ladies, going for a song  
Got a lot of callers, but they never  
Stay for long_." The prostitutes sang, their voices gentler.

"Come on, Captain  
You can wear your shoes  
Don't it make a change  
To have a girl who can't refuse?" Penny sang as she led the sailor to a private room. He kissed her neck and loosened the strings on her corset. "_Easy money, lying on a bed. Just as well they never see the hate that's in your head. Don't they know they're making love to one already dead_?" Penny sang as the sailor preceded to make love to her. He whispered in her ear how pretty she was.

When he was done, he tossed some Sickles at her, got dressed and exited the room they were in.

Penny felt herself shaking as she got dressed and laid in the coffin she used as a bed, which made sense, seeing as she was already dead inside.


	7. I Dreamed A Dream

CHAPTER SEVEN  
(chapter title – I Dreamed a Dream)

Penny laid in the coffin, feeling empty. She remembered her younger days when women weren't treated so badly.

"_There was a time when men were kind  
When their voices were soft  
And their words inviting  
There was a time when love was blind  
And the world was a song  
And the song was exciting  
There was a time  
Then it all went wrong_." Penny sang, feeling the tears stream down her cheeks. She sat up a bit in the coffin. She remembered her youth and all the good things about it.

"_I dreamed a dream in time gone by  
When hope was high and life worth living  
I dreamed that love would never die  
I dreamed that Merlin would be forgiving  
Then I was young and unafraid  
And dreams were made and used and wasted  
There was no ransom to be paid  
No song unsung, no mead untasted_

_But the tigers come at night  
With their voices soft as thunder  
As they tear your hope apart  
As they turn your dream to shame_!" Penny continued, her thoughts flashing to the young redheaded man she had fallen in love with when she was fifteen. His name was Percy and he was a student at a college. In the summer, he would spend all day with Penny. When Penny was sixteen, she lost her virginity to him, which caused her to become pregnant with Luna. He left before Luna was born and Penny never heard from him again.

"_He slept a summer by my side  
He filled my days with endless wonder  
He took my childhood in his stride  
But he was gone when autumn came_

_And still I dream he'll come to me  
That we would live the years together  
But there are dreams that cannot be  
And there are storms we cannot weather_." Penny sang, struggling for breath. She took a couple deep breaths before continuing.

"_I had a dream my life would be  
So different from this hell I'm living  
So different now from what it seemed  
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed_." She finished singing. She got out of the coffin and went to the place she had claimed as her own. Hermione was in there with a customer, but Penny didn't mind. She just closed her eyes and fell asleep, dreaming about her younger days.


	8. Penny's Arrest

CHAPTER EIGHT  
(chapter title – Penny's Arrest)

_A week later_

Penny was coughing and stumbling around when a well-dressed gentleman named Lucius looked her way. He was dressed in a green and silver suit, matching top hat, button up shoes and black gloves. He carried a silver cane with a snake's head.

"Here's something new, I think I'll give it a try  
Come closer you! I like to see what I buy!  
The usual price, for just one slice of your pie!" Lucius told Penny. She struggled in his grasp.

"I don't want you! No, no, good sir, let me go!" Penny told him. Lucius looked astonished – no one had ever refused him.

"Is this a trick? I won't pay more!" Lucius told Penny, placing a hand under her chin. She lifted her hazel eyes to his cold green ones and glared at him.

"No, not at all!" Penny told him, her tone soft.

"You've got some never, you little slut  
You've got some gall!  
_It's the same with a tart as it is with a grocer!  
The customer sees what he gets in advance  
_It's not for the whore to say 'yes sir' or 'no sir'  
It's not for the harlot to pick and to choose  
Or lead me to a dance!" Lucius told Penny as he hit her with his cane. She clawed at his face, leaving four bloody scratches.

"_I'll kill you bastard try any of that!  
Even a whore who has gone to the bad  
Won't be had by a rat_!" Penny told him. Lucius put a gloved hand to his face and drew it away.

"Merlin, you'll pay for what you have done!  
This rat will make you bleed, you'll see  
I guarantee, I'll make you suffer  
For this disturbance of the peace  
For this insult to life and property!" Lucius told Penny, placing his handkerchief to his cheek.

"I beg you, don't report me sir!  
I'll do whatever you may want!" Penny begged, feeling tears in her eyes.

"Make your excuse to the police!" Lucius whispered in Penny's ear just as Severus entered the scene, two guards right behind him.

"_Tell me quickly what's the story  
Who saw what and why and where  
Let him give a full description  
Let him answer to Severus  
In this nest of whores and vipers  
Let one speak who saw it all  
Who laid hands on this good man here?  
What's the substance of this brawl_?" Severus asked as he walked through the growing crowd.

"Severus, would you believe it  
I was lost here in the dark  
When this prostitute attacked me  
You can see she left her mark." Lucius told Severus, pointing to his cheek.

"_She will answer for her actions  
When you make a full report  
You may rest assured, good sir  
She will answer to the court_." Severus told Lucius.

"There's a child who sorely needs me  
Please good sir, she's about that high," Penny brought her hand to her hip, indicating how tall Luna was. "_Holy Merlin is there no mercy? If I go to jail, she'll die_!"

"_I have heard such protestations  
Every day for twenty years  
Let's have no more explanations  
Save your breath and save your tears  
Honest work, just reward  
That's the way to please Merlin_!" Severus sang, indicating to the guards to arrest Penny. She gave out one last despairing cry as the shackles are placed on her wrists.

Sirius had been watching the scene from the shadows. He couldn't take this anymore. He stepped forward and nodded to the guards to let Penny go.

"A moment of your time, Severus  
I do believe this woman's tale." Sirius told Severus.

"But Sir Lockhart!" Severus protested.

"You've done your duty, let her be  
She needs a doctor, not a jail!" Sirius told Severus, his tone firm. Penny started coughing as the guard released her.

"But Sir Lockhart!" Severus repeated. Sirius ignored him.

"Can this be?" Penny asked Sirius, not wanting to believe her eyes.

"_Where will she end –  
This child without a friend_?" he asked Severus. He then turned to Penny. "_I've seen your face before. Show me some way to help you. How have you come to grieve in such a place as this_?"

"Good sir, don't mock me now, I pray!  
It's hard enough I've lost my pride  
You let your foreman send me away  
Yes, you were there, and turned aside  
_I never did no wrong  
My daughter's close to dying  
If Merlin's up above,  
He'd let me die instead_!" Penny sang in counterpart with Sirius.

"_Is it true what I've done?  
To an innocent soul?  
Had I only known then_

In His name, my task has just begun  
I will see it done!  
I will see it done!" Sirius assured Penny.

"But Sir Lockhart!" Severus pleaded.

"I will see it done!" Sirius repeated.

"But Sir Lockhart!" Severus repeated, seeing the brand 24601 just under Sir Lockhart's collarbone. He had caught the thief at last.

"Where is your child?" Sirius asked Penny as he gathered her in his arms and carried her away from the staring crowd.

"With an innkeeper and his wife in St. Ottery Catchpole." Penny answered, feeling her voice grow weak.

"I will send for her immediately!" Sirius told Penny. She placed a hand over her mouth and thanked him. "_I will see it done_."

Severus continued to stare at Sirius as he carried Penny off, knowing he was the notorious thief Sirius Black.


	9. Who Am I?

CHAPTER NINE  
(chapter title – Who Am I?)

Sirius was in his bedchamber, packing his things. If they found him, he would spend another twenty years on the chain gang. A thousand thoughts were flying in his head like caged birds.

"_He thinks that man is me  
He knew him at a glace  
That stranger he has found  
This man could be my chance  
Why should I save his hide  
Why should I right this wrong  
When I have come so far  
And struggled for so long?  
If I speak, I am condemned  
If I stay silent, I am damned!  
I am the master of hundreds of workers  
They all look to me  
How can I abandon them, how can they live  
If I am not free?  
If I speak, I am condemned  
If I stay silent, I am damned!_

_Who am I?  
Can I condemn this man to slavery  
Pretend I do see his agony  
This innocent who bears my face  
Who goes to judgment in my place  
Who am I?  
Can I conceal myself for evermore  
Pretend I'm not the man I was before?  
And must my name until I die be no more than an alibi?  
Must I lie?  
How can I ever face my fellow men  
How can I ever face myself again?  
My soul belongs to Merlin, I know  
I made that bargain long ago  
He gave me hope when hope was gone  
He gave me strength to journey on  
Who am I? Who am I?  
I'm Sirius Black_!" Sirius sang as he got ready to go to court. He arrived at the courthouse and stormed into the trial. There was a man who looked nothing like him standing near the front of rows of wooden pews.

"Order! Order!" the judge bellowed, banging his gavel.

"_And so Severus, you see it's true  
That man bears no more guilt than you!  
Who am I?  
24601_!" Sirius finished singing, unbuttoning his shirt and showed the court his brand of 24601 under his collarbone. Everyone gasped, not knowing their beloved Sir Lockhart had been in jail.

Sirius exited the courthouse and went to the hospital to see Penny, praying he wasn't too late.


	10. Come To Me - Penny's Death

CHAPTER TEN  
(chapter title – Come To Me (Penny's Death))

Meanwhile, Penny was in a hospital bed, slowly dying. She was hallucinating that she saw Luna playing five feet in front of her.

"_Luna, it's turned so cold  
Luna, it's past your bedtime  
You've played the day away  
And soon it will be night  
Come to me, Luan, the light is fading  
Don't you see, the evening star appearing?  
Come to me and rest against my shoulder  
How fast the minutes fly away  
And every minute colder_

_Hurry near, another day is dying  
There's a darkness which comes without a warning  
But I will sing you lullabies  
And wake you in the morning_." Penny sang to her daughter. Luna looked up from her playing and took Penny's hand. Before Penny could close her fingers around Luna's hand, she disappeared.

At that moment, Sirius entered the room and took Penny's hand.

"_Oh, Penny, Luna will be here soon  
Oh, Penny, she will be by your side_." Sirius assured Penny, sitting beside her on the bed.

"Luna, my child, where did you go?" Penny cried out. Sirius took her in his arms and gently rocked her.

"Be at peace, be at peace ever more!" Sirius soothed Penny.

"My Luna!" Penny shouted.

"Will live in my protection." Sirius told Penny. He could feel the life drifting out of her.

"Take her now." Penny told him. Sirius held her closer to him.

"Your child will want for nothing." Sirius whispered in her ear. She smiled sleepily.

"Good sir, you come from Merlin in heaven!" Penny told Sirius, grabbing at his jacket.

"And none shall ever harm Luna as long as I am living." Sirius assured Penny again.

"_Take my hand, the night grows ever colder_!" Penny told Sirius, shivering slightly. Sirius removed his jacket and placed it over her shoulders, helping her lean back onto the bed.

"Then I will keep you warm." Sirius said, smiling.

"Take my child, I give her to your keeping!" Penny whispered, more life leaving her body.

"Take shelter from the storm." Sirius whispered, stroking her cheek.

"_For Merlin's sake, please stay til I am sleeping  
And tell Luna I love her and I'll see her when I wake_!" Penny sang softly. She took one final breath and passed on. Sirius kissed her forehead, knowing that Penny was in a better place and that her daughter would be in good hands.


	11. The Confrontation

CHAPTER ELEVEN  
(chapter title – The Confrontation)

Sirius didn't hear him enter the room, he was still in shock that Penny passed away so suddenly.

"_Black, at last, we see each other plain!  
Good Sir Lockhart, you'll wear a different chain_!" Severus' cold voice greeted Sirius' ears. He looked over at the Inspector and got up from his spot next to Penny.

"_Before you say another word, Severus  
Before you chain me up like a slave again  
Listen to me, there is something I must do!  
This woman leaves behind a suffering child  
In mercy's name, three days are all I need  
Then I'll return, I pledge my word  
Then I'll return_!" Sirius pleaded. His eyes widened in horror as Severus drew his sword.

"_You must think me mad!  
I've hunted you across the years!  
Men like me can never change  
A man, such as you!  
Men like me can never change  
Men like you can never change  
No, 24601  
My duty's to the law  
You have no rights  
Come with me 24601  
Now the wheel has turned around  
Sirius Black is nothing now!  
Dare you talk to me of crime  
And the price you have to pay  
Every man is born in sin  
Every man must choose his way  
You know nothing of Severus  
I was born inside a jail  
I was born with scum like you  
I am from the gutter, too_!" Severus sang in counterpoint with Sirius, jabbing at him with his sword like a snake.

"_Believe of me what you will  
There is a duty that I'm sworn to do  
You know nothing of my life  
All I did was steal some bread  
You know nothing of the world  
You would rather see me dead  
But not before I see this justice done!  
I am warning you Severus  
I'm a stronger man by far  
There is power in me yet  
My race is not yet run!  
I am warning you Severus  
There is nothing I won't dare  
If I have to kill you hear  
I'll do what must be done_." Sirius sang in counterpoint with Severus, dancing out of the way of Severus' sword. He then turned to Penny. "And I swear to you tonight."

"There is no place for you to hide!" Severus warned, putting his sword away.

"Your child will live within my care." Sirius told Penny, kissing her hand.

"Wherever you may hide away." Severus said, glaring at the thief.

"And I will raise her to the light." Sirius said.

"I swear to you – I will be there!" both of them told the other one. Sirius then knocked out Severus with a 2x4 he had found, tied the Inspector to a chair and fled the room.


	12. Castle on a Cloud

CHAPTER TWELVE  
(chapter title – Castle on a Cloud)

Meanwhile, in the little village of St. Ottery Catchpole, a young blond haired girl is sweeping the front of an inn while other young children run around her, happy and carefree. Luna wished so much to join them, but she was working for the Umbridge's, all day, every day.

"_There is a castle on a cloud  
I like to go there in my sleep  
Aren't any floors for me to sweep  
Not in my castle on a cloud_

_There is a room that's full of toys  
There are a hundred boys and girls  
Nobody shouts or talks too loud  
Not in my castle on a cloud_

_There is a lady all in white  
Holds me and sings a lullaby  
She's nice to see and she's soft to touch  
She says, "Luna, I love you very much"_

_I know a place where no one's lost  
I know a place where no one cries  
Crying at all is not allowed  
Not in my castle on a cloud_." Luna sang mostly to herself. She heard loud noises coming from inside the inn and she knew it was Madame Umbridge.

"Oh help! I think I hear them now! And I'm nowhere finished sweeping and polishing and scrubbing the floors! Oh, it's her! It's Madame!" Luna told herself, quickly going back to work. She hadn't meant to daydream.

Madame Umbridge strolled over. To Luna, she resembled a large toad and was always dressed in pink. The three Umbridge's were awful to Luna, especially Madame Umbridge or their daughter Luna's age named Ginerva. Aberforth wasn't too bad, but he wasn't good, either.

"Now, look who's here  
The little madame herself  
Pretending that's she's been so awfully good!  
Better not let me catch you slacking  
Better not catch my eye!  
Ten rotten Sickles your mother sends me  
What is that gonna buy?  
Now, take that pail  
My little 'miss good girl'  
And go and draw some water from the well!  
We never should have taken you in the first place  
How stupid the things that we do  
Like mother, like daughter the scum of the street!" Umbridge ranted to Luna, only stopping when she saw Ginny. Luna stands there, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Mama!" Ginny called, coming into the inn.

"Ginerva, come my dear, Ginerva, let me see you!  
You look very well in that little blue hat!  
There's some little girls who know how to behave  
And they know what to wear  
And I'm saying thank Merlin for that!" Umbridge told her daughter, kissing Ginny's cheeks and forehead. Luna sniffling caught her attention. "Still there, Luna? Your tears will do you no good! I told you fetch some water from the well in the wood!"

"_Please do not send me out alone! Not in the darkness on my own_!" Luna pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Enough of that, or I'll forget to be nice! You heard me ask for something and I never ask twice!" Umbridge said, shoving the pail into Luna's hands just as Ginny pushed Luna out the back door.

Aberforth came down the stairs, greeted his wife and daughter as the inn filled up for the evening.

As Luna walked to the well, she would never understand why her mother left her with these people. She wished someone, anyone, would come take her away from this horrible place.


	13. Master of the House

CHAPTER THIRTEEN  
(chapter title – Master of the House)

"Hurry up, Aberforth! We're opening!" Umbridge told Aberforth. He sat up in his chair, kissed the top of Ginny's head and made his rounds through the inn before the customers came. He saw his gang – Draco, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle sitting about like useless lumps, which they all were.

"_My band of soaks, my den of dissolute's  
My dirty jokes, my always pissed as newts  
My sons of whores who spend their lives in my inn  
Homing pigeons homing in  
They fly through my doors  
And their money's good as yours_." Aberforth told his gang. They stood up and went to help the customers. He greeted an old man and helped him in, taking some of his money and a lot of his personal belongings.

"_Welcome, good sir, sit yourself down  
And meet the best innkeeper in town  
As for the rest, all of 'em crooks:  
Rooking the guests and cooking the books  
Seldom do you see  
Honest men like me  
A gent of good intent  
Who's content to be_

_Master of the house, doling out the charm  
Ready with a handshake and an open palm  
Tells a saucy tale, makes a little stir  
Customers appreciate a bon-viveur  
Glad to do a friend a favor  
Doesn't cost me to be nice  
But nothing gets you nothing  
Everything has got a little price!_

_Master of the house, keeper of the zoo  
Ready to relieve a Knut or two  
Watering the wine, making up the weight  
Pickin' up their knick-knacks when they can't see straight  
Everybody loves a landlord  
Everybody's bosom friend  
I do whatever pleases  
Jesus! Won't I bleed 'em in the end_!" Aberforth sang as he did dirty deeds to the patrons of the inn. He and Umbridge collected glass eyes, fake teeth, glasses, rings, watches, necklaces and anything else they could take without people noticing.

Umbridge, meanwhile, watered the wine and stuffed things into sausages with Ginny's help. Ginny was a little thief herself – she took hats, canes, boots, handkerchiefs, coins and toys that the children sometimes brought.

"_Master of the house, quick to catch yer eye  
Never wants a passerby to pass him by  
Servant to the poor, butler to the great  
Comforter, philosopher, and lifelong mate!  
Everybody's boon companion  
Everybody's chaperone_!" the patrons of the inn sang together.

"But lock up your valises, Merlin! Won't I skin you to the bone!" Aberforth muttered under his breath. He smiled as a newcomer entered the inn. Umbridge took his coat while Ginny looked for any loose change. Aberforth's gang looked at the eight-year-old and thought that someday, she would make a good addition to the gang.

"Hello sir!" Umbridge greeted the fellow, throwing a handkerchief on the floor. He bent to get it while Ginny took some spare Knuts and Galleons he had in his pocket.

"_Enter good sir and lay down your load  
Unlace your boots and rest from the road_." Aberforth told the young man, helping him with his boots. The two of them managed to get one boot off and it was discovered that the man had a fake leg. Aberforth discretely handed the leg to Ginny, who took it to Umbridge. He then tried to lift the young man's bag and traded it for a baby carrier. "_This weighs a ton, travel's a curse, but here we strive to lighten your purse. Here the goose is cooked, here the fat is fried. And nothing's overlooked til I'm satisfied_!"

A man dressed as Santa entered, a little bit tipsy. He fell into the giant bosom of a prostitute and the two of them went to the bridal suite.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Umbridge was cutting up more food. Aberforth entered and kissed her on the cheek.

"_Food beyond compare. Food beyond belief!  
Mix it in a mincer and pretend it's beef  
Kidney of a horse, liver of a cat  
Filling up the sausages with this and that  
Residents are more than welcome  
Bridal suite is occupied  
Reasonable charges, plus some little extras on the side_." Aberforth continued singing. Above his head, he, Ginny and Umbridge could hear the prostitute and Santa going at it.

"Oh Santa!" the prostitute moaned with pleasure. Ginny held back giggles when her parents scowled at her.

Aberforth and Ginny were now in Aberforth's office, getting payments from the residents of the inn.

"Charge 'em for the lice, extra for the mice," Aberforth told his eldest. She nodded and wrote the charges down. The young couple in front of her glared at Aberforth, but he was pretty used to it. "_Two percent for looking in the mirror twice. Here a little slice, there a little cut. Three percent for sleeping with the windows shut _– hand it over! _When it comes to fixing prices, there are lots of tricks I knows. How it all increases, all them bits and pieces! Merlin, it's amazing how it grows_!"

Umbridge was wiping off tables when a young soldier caught her eye. She went over to him and wiped his jacket with a rag.

"Oh, sorry, love. Let me do something about that," Umbridge told the lad, slipping his money bag into the front of her dress. She sat down in front of him, resting her head on her elbow. The young soldier stared awkwardly at her. "I used to dream that I would meet a prince, but Merlin Almighty, have you seen what's happened since?" she asked, indicating to Aberforth, who was having a discussion with a friend. Ginny wasn't around, so Umbridge figured she went to bed. Umbridge sat on the soldier's lap and smiled at him. "_Master of the house, isn't worth my spit. Comforter, philosopher and lifelong shit. Cunning little brain, regular Voltaire_. Thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there. What a cruel trick of nature, landed me with such a louse! Merlin knows how long I've lasted living with this bastard in the house!"

"_Master of the house_!" all the resident men sang.

"Master and a half!" Umbridge retorted, going over to talk with some women.

"_Comforter, philosopher_!" the men sang.

"Don't make me laugh!" Umbridge said, rolling her eyes.

"_Servant to the poor, butler to the great_!" the men sang again.

"_Hypocrite and toady and inebriate_!" Umbridge told Aberforth, poking his chest with her finger.

"_Everybody bless the landlord! Everybody bless his spouse_!" Aberforth sang.

"Everybody raise a glass!" the men exclaimed.

"Raise it up the master's arse!" Umbridge retorted. Several women of the inn laughed.

"_Everybody raise a glass to the master of the house_!" everyone sang.

The gathering went on well past 1:00 in the morning. Umbridge looked at her watch – Luna had been at the well for over two hours. She hoped that the girl got stolen – she was slow, daydreamed and only did a half-ass job working.


	14. Waltz of Treachery

CHAPTER FOURTEEN  
(chapter title – Waltz of Treachery)

Meanwhile, Luna was lugging the heavy pail back to the inn when a noise made her turn around. A large figure was coming towards her. She gasped and ran to the bushes, hoping the stranger wouldn't find her.

"Hush, now. Do not be afraid of me. Come now, show me where you live. Tell me my child, what is your name?" the stranger spoke with a soft and kind voice. She came out of the bushes and smiled at him.

"My name's Luna." The child told the stranger. The stranger smiled and removed his top hat.

"Dear one," the stranger said, bowing slightly. He noticed Luna's bucket. "May I help you with your bucket?"

She nodded and looked at the beautiful doll in the window of the toy store.

"What's your name, sir?" Luna asked the stranger.

"I'm Sir Lockhart." Sirius told the child. She smiled and hugged him. He smiled and patted her back in a loving way.

"Luna! There you are! We've been worried sick!" Aberforth told Luna. She shied behind Sirius, who put his arm around the frightened thing.

"I found her wandering in the wood, this little child, I found her trembling in the shadows. And I am here to help Luna and settle any debt you may think proper. I will pay what I must pay to take Luna away," Sirius told Umbridge and Aberforth. He then turned to Luna. "Your mother is with Merlin. Penny's suffering is over. And I speak here with her voice. I stand here in her place."

When Sirius mentioned that Luna's mother had died, he saw the child's blue eyes get wide and fill up with tears. Umbridge put a hand to her mouth while Aberforth put a hand on Umbridge's shoulder.

Umbridge and Aberforth led Sirius inside, trying to take his personal belongings. Somehow, Aberforth took Sirius' top hat, but Sirius managed to get it back.

"_What to do? What to say?  
Shall you carry our treasure away?  
What a gem! What a pearl!  
Beyond rubies is our little girl!  
How can we speak of debt  
Let's not haggle for darling Luna  
Dear Penny, gone to rest  
Have we done for her child what is best?  
Shared our bread, shared each bone  
Treated her like she's one of our own  
Like our own, good sir_!" Aberforth sang. Sirius looked over at Luna and saw the child roll her eyes and give him looks saying, 'are you kidding me?'

"Your feelings do you credit, sir. And I will ease the parting blow," Sirius said, tossing a sack full of gold coins their way. Umbridge and Aberforth looked happily at each other before turning back to the stranger. "Let's not talk of bargains or bones or greed. Now, may I say, we are agreed?"

"_That would quite fit the bill  
If she hadn't so often been ill  
Little dear, cost us dear  
Medicines are expensive, good sir  
Not that we begrudged a Knut  
It's no more than we Christians must do_!" Umbridge told the stranger.

Sirius reached for the child, but Umbridge and Aberforth stood in his way, blocking her from view.

"_One thing more, one small doubt  
There are treacherous people about  
No offense, please reflect  
Your intensions may not be…correct_?" the two of them sang in unison.

"No more words, here's your price  
Fifteen hundred for your sacrifice!" Sirius told the couple, pulling out a piece of paper deep within his coat. He then turned to Luna. "_Come, Luna, say goodbye. Let us seek out some friendlier sky_." He then turned to the couple. "Thank you both for Luna. It won't take you too long to forget!"

Sirius and Luna left the inn, just as the sounds of whooping and yelling drifted out of the windows.

He led her to an awaiting carriage where two beautiful horses were waiting. He told her to pet the horses while he ran a quick errand. He returned a short while later and handed Luna the doll she had been admiring. She hugged the doll then hugged Sirius.

She took one more longing look at the inn, happy to be away from those horrible people.

"Come, Luna, come my dear  
From now on, I will always be here.  
Where I go, you will be." Sirius told Luna as they got into the carriage.

"Will you be like a papa to me?" Luna asked, her voice timid and shy.

"Yes, Luna. Yes, it's true. I'll be both father and mother to you." Sirius told the little girl.

He gave the coachman directions to a village where he knew they would be safe. The coachman urged the horses on and they were off to their destination.

Meanwhile at the inn, Severus knocked on the door.

"There's a copper at the door! What in Merlin's name did you do this time?" Umbridge asked Aberforth as she went to answer the door.

"I'm looking for the child called Luna." Severus told the couple.

"She left with a gent. Didn't say where they went. He didn't leave his home address." Umbridge told him. Severus rolled his eyes, mounted his horse and in the snow, saw fresh hoof prints. He urged his horse on, knowing he was getting close to capturing Black.


	15. Suddenly

CHAPTER FIFTEEN  
(chapter title – Suddenly)

Inside the carriage, Luna rested her head on Sirius' lap, closed her eyes and fell asleep. He stroked her hair and stared out the window.

"_Suddenly you're here  
Suddenly it starts  
Can two anxious hearts  
Beat as one?  
Yesterday, I was alone  
Today, you are beside me  
Something still unclear  
Something not yet here  
Has begun_

_Suddenly the world  
Seems a different place  
Somehow full of grace  
Full of light  
How was I to know  
That so much love  
Was held inside me?  
Something fresh and young  
Something still unsung  
Fills the night _

_How was I to know at last  
That happiness could come so fast?  
Trusting me the way you do  
I'm so afraid of failing you  
Just a child who cannot know  
That danger follows where I go  
There are shadows everywhere  
And memories I cannot share_

_Nevermore alone  
Nevermore apart  
You have warmed my heart  
Like the sun.  
You have brought me the gift of life  
And love so long denied me  
Suddenly I see  
What I could not see  
Something suddenly  
Has begun_." Sirius sang softly, continuing to stroke Luna's hair.

He felt his heart freeze in his chest when they came to the border of the town they were to stay in. Police officers were everywhere, asking everyone for papers.

"Luna, sweet girl, we have to go – now!" Sirius told the little one. He stuffed the doll in his jacket and exited the carriage, carrying Luna in his arms.

"BLACK!" Severus yelled, spotting them. Sirius looked over his shoulder and saw Severus galloping toward them on his black stallion named Titan.

Sirius found ways to get around that the horse couldn't travel. He told Luna to be quiet and so far, she was being so good. He kissed her forehead every once in a while, telling her how good she was being.

The two of them were now living at a church with Xenophilius. Sirius had taken the name Sir Dumbledore and Luna was being called Rose.

As for Severus, he gave up the chase, but not giving up trying to find Sirius and bring him to justice.


	16. Stars

CHAPTER SIXTEEN  
(chapter title – Stars)

Severus balanced on a wide railing as he looked into the night sky. The stars were coming out and were twinkling brightly.

"_There, out in the darkness  
A fugitive running  
Fallen from Merlin  
Fallen from grace  
Merlin be my witness  
I never shall yield  
Til we come face to face  
Til we come face to face_

_He knows his way in the dark  
Mine is the way of Merlin  
Those who follow the path of the righteous  
Shall have their reward  
And if they fall  
As Lucifer fell  
The flame  
The sword!_

_Stars  
In your multitudes  
Scarce to be counted  
Filling the darkness  
With order and light  
You are the sentinels  
Keeping watch in the night  
Keeping watch in the night_

_You know your place in the sky  
You hold your course and your aim  
And each in your season  
Returns and returns  
And is always the same  
And if you fall as Lucifer fell  
You fall in flames!_

_And so it must be  
For so it is written  
On the doorway to paradise  
That those who falter and  
Those who fall  
Must pay the price_

_Merlin, let me find him  
That I may see him  
Safe behind bars  
I will never rest  
Til then, this I swear  
This I swear by the stars_!" Severus sang, continuing to pace and look at the stars forming in the sky._  
_


	17. Look Down

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN  
(chapter title – Look Down)

_Nine years later_

The sun rose over Hogwarts as a little blond boy came out of hiding. He encouraged other boys to follow him. The little boy jumped over a cart, went through people's legs and went to find his people.

"_Look down and see the beggars at your feet  
Look down and show some mercy if you can  
Look down and see the sweepings of the street  
Look down, look down  
Upon your fellow man_!" the beggars sang to the rich people passing by.

The little blond haired boy climbed into the nearest carriage and looked at the people sitting there.

"_How do you do? My name's Colin  
These are my people, here's my patch  
Not much to look at, nothing posh  
Nothing that you'd call up to scratch  
This is my school, my high society  
Here in the slums of Saint Hogwarts  
We live on crumbs of humble piety  
Tough on the teeth, but what the hell!  
Think you're poor?  
Think you're free?  
Follow me, follow me_!" the little boy – Colin – sang to the rich people. He then climbed out of the carriage and sat on another one that was going to the protest held by the students.

"_Look down and show some mercy if you can  
Look down, look down upon your fellow man_!" the beggars sang.

An old beggar woman, Narcissa, found a young prostitute named Bellatrix occupying her patch.

"What do you think you're at? Hanging 'round me pitch? If you're new around here, girl, you've got a lot to learn!" Narcissa told the young girl.

"Listen you old bat, crazy bloody witch. 'Least I give my customers some pleasure in return!" Bellatrix spat.

"I know what you give! Give 'em all the pox! Spread around your poison til they end up in a box!" Narcissa argued.

Arthur – a pimp – was watching from nearby and came up to Bellatrix, leading her away from the scene.

"Leave the poor old cow,  
Move it, Bellatrix  
She used to be no better  
Til the clap got to her brain!" Arthur told Bellatrix as he led her away.

The beggars, mixed in with Ginny, were standing around a small stage that some of the students, including Harry, Weasley, Cedric, Seamus, George, Neville and Dean.

Harry's rich uncle – Remus – watched from his carriage as his nephew handed out flyers for something.

"_When's it gonna end?  
When we gonna live?  
Something's gotta happen or  
Something's gonna give…  
It'll come, it'll come, it'll come,  
It'll come, it'll come, it'll come_." The beggars sang.

"Where are the leaders of the land?  
Where are the swells who run this show?" Weasley inquired to no one in particular.

"Only one man – General Godric, speaks for the people here below!" Harry answered.

"_See our children fed  
Help us in our shame  
Something for a crust of bread  
In Merlin's Holy name_!" the beggars sang.

"In Merlin's Holy name!" Narcissa yelled.

"In His name, in His name, in His name…" the beggars chanted.

"Godric is ill and fading fast! Won't last the week out, so they say!" Harry told Weasley.

"With all the anger in the land  
How long before the judgment day?

Before we cut the fat ones down to size?  
Before the barricades arise!" Weasley and the students exclaimed.

"_Watch out for old Aberforth  
All of his family's on the make  
Once ran a hash-house down the way  
Bit of a wine and no mistake  
He's got a gang of bleeding layabouts  
Even his daughter does her share  
That's Ginerva, she knows her way about  
Only a kid, but hard to scare  
Do we care?  
Not a cuss!  
Love live us! Long live us_!" Colin warned, looking to his left. Aberforth, his gang and Ginny were scheming something rotten.

"_Look down and show some mercy if you can  
Look down, look down upon your fellow man_!" the beggars sang.

Harry got off the stage when the crowds dispersed, encouraging people to come to the ABC Café that night for a protest.

"Harry James Potter! What in blazes do you think you're doing?" Harry's uncle Remus fumed, stepping out of the carriage.

"I'm fighting for what I believe in." Harry answered, looking over his uncle's shoulder at Ginny.

"Before your parents died, I promised my brother that I would take care of his only son. I don't believe that your father would be very proud of you, if he were living today." Remus told his nephew. He could tell that Harry wasn't listening. He sighed and got back in his carriage, having his driver take him home.


	18. The Robbery & Severus' Intervention

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN  
(chapter title – The Robbery/Severus' Intervention)

Meanwhile in town, Aberforth gathered his gang just as Ginny came over.

"Everyone here? You know your place. Crabbe, Goyle, Zambini," Aberforth told his gang. He then looked to Draco, "You Malfoy, watch for the law with Ginerva take care," he then turned to Umbridge, "You turn on the tears. No mistakes, my dears!"

Just then, Harry, Weasley and some other students walked in front of where the gang, Ginny, Aberforth and Umbridge were. Ginny saw Harry and walked over to him.

"These bloody students on our street  
Here they come slumming once again  
Our Ginerva would kiss their feet  
She never had a scrap of brain!" Umbridge complained loudly as she changed into her costume.

"Hey, Ginerva, what's up today? I haven't seen you much about." Harry told his friend, smiling at her. The two of them had been friends since they were little. Where Harry only liked Ginny as a friend, she had an obsession with the young student.

"Here you can always catch me in." Ginny answered, pressing against Harry. Harry told his friends to go ahead and he would meet them later.

"Mind the police don't catch you out!" Harry warned. Ginny then spotted the books under Marius' arm.

"Hey, what do you do with all them books? I could have been a student, too. Don't judge a girl on how she looks. I know a lot of things, I do!" Ginny told Harry. He smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Poor Ginerva, the things you know you wouldn't find in books like these." Harry told Ginny. Ginny smiled and ran her fingers through Harry's black curly hair.

"I like the way you grow your hair." Ginny told Harry, shooting him a seductive look.

"I like the way you always tease." Harry told her, running to catch up with his friends.

"Little he knows, little he sees." Ginny sighed, forgetting about her parent's plan. She saw Harry not too far away and tried to steer him away from where her parents were.

"Here's the old boy. Stay on the job and watch out for the law!" Umbridge told Aberforth and his gang just as Sirius and a very pretty girl walked towards them.

"Stay out of this!" Ginny warned Harry.

"But Ginerva!" Harry pleaded. She shook her head.

"You'll be in trouble here. It's not your concern. You'll be in the clear!" Ginny told Harry, shooing him away. He saw Sirius walking towards them with a beautiful blond haired girl on his arm.

"Who is that man?" Harry questioned.

"Leave me alone!" Ginny shouted, running off.

"Why is he here? Hey Ginerva!" Harry called after his friend, gently bumping into the girl. Their eyes met for a moment before Harry spoke, "I didn't see you there, forgive me!"

He then ran to the ABC Café where his friends were waiting for him. He could see the scene perfectly from the large picture windows.

Aberforth approached Sirius, faking a limp. Umbridge was seated on the ground with something in her arms. Sirius raised an eyebrow as he and Luna continued on their walk.

"_Please good sir, come this way  
Here's a child that ain't eaten today  
Save a life, spare a Knut  
Merlin rewards all the good that you do  
Wait a bit, know that face  
Ain't the world a remarkable place?  
Men like me don't forget  
You're the bastard who borrowed Luna_!" Aberforth told Sirius. Malfoy and Crabbe grabbed Sirius' arms while Goyle took hold of Luna.

"What is this? Are you mad? No, good sir, you don't know what you do!" Sirius told Aberforth as Luna cried out for Sirius.

"You know me, you know me. I'm a con just like you!" Aberforth told Sirius, pushing back his collar to see 24601 branded just below his collarbone.

"It's the police, disappear! Run for it! It's Severus!" Ginny called as Severus entered the square. Everyone ran besides Sirius and Luna. She fell into Sirius' arms and began weeping. Sirius held her close, assuring her that she was all right.

By this time, Harry had exited the ABC Café to get a closer look at the girl. She had blond hair that was up in an exotic knot. She wore a blue dress made of silk. She also had a matching bonnet and fingerless gloves. Harry sighed inwardly as he continued to gaze at the girl. She caught his eye and looked back over at him, her eyes sparkling in the sun.

"Another brawl in the square  
Another stink in the air  
Was there a witness to this?  
Let him speak to Severus  
Sir, the streets are not safe  
But let these vermin beware  
We'll see that justice is done." Severus told the crowd. Aberforth and Umbridge were caught and were being held by the upper arms by two of Severus' guards. Aberforth's gang had fled the scene. "Look at this fine collection crawled from underneath the stone. This swarm of worms and maggots could have picked you to the bone!" He looked to Aberforth and narrowed his eyes. "I know this man over here. I know his name and his trade. And on your witness, good sir, we'll see him suitably paid." He turned to speak to Sirius, but saw that he had fled. Harry felt his heart sink, not knowing when he would see the girl again. "But where has the gentleman gone and why on Earth did he run?"

"_You will have a job to catch him  
He's the one you should arrest  
No more bourgeois when you scratch him  
Than that brand upon his chest_!" Aberforth sang.

"_Could it be he's some old jailbird  
That the tide now washes in?  
Heard my name and started running  
And the brand upon his skin  
And the girl who stood beside him  
When I turned they both had fled  
Could he the man I've hunted?  
Could it be he's Sirius Black_?" Severus sang more to himself than to anyone else. Aberforth clearing his throat caught Severus' attention.

"In the absence of a victim, dear Inspector, may I go? And remember when you've nicked him, it was me who told you so." Aberforth told Severus. He sighed and indicated to the guards to release Aberforth and Umbridge.

"Let the old man keep on running. I will run him off his feet," Severus said to himself. He felt an eerie silence and saw people staring at him. "Everyone about your business! Clear this garbage off the street!"

Ginny leaned against a brick wall as people ran around her. She ignored them, as usual.

"_Luna, now I remember  
__Luna, how can it be  
__We were children together  
__Look what's become of me_." Ginny sang to herself. She noticed Harry and ran over to him. "Good Merlin! Oh what a rumpus!"

"That girl, who could she be?" Harry asked, ignoring Ginny for the moment.

"That cop he'd like to jump us, but he ain't smart, not he!" Ginny told Harry, leaping in front of him. He noticed Ginny for the first time since that morning.

"Ginerva, who was that girl?" Harry asked.

"Some bourgeois two-a-penny thing!" Ginny answered.

"Ginerva, find her for me!" Harry pleaded.

"What will you give me?" Ginny inquired, smiling at her beloved friend.

"Anything!" Harry shouted.

"Got you all excited now, but Merlin knows what you see in her!" Ginny told her friend. "Ain't you all delighted now," she shook her head when Harry offered her five Galleons, "no - I don't want your money, sir!"

"_Ginerva, do this for me, discover where she lives.  
But careful how you go - don't let her father know  
Ginny - I'm lost until she's found_!" Harry sang.

"See, I told you so!" Ginny told him, poking his chest. "There's lots of things I know," she disappeared into an alley just as Harry ran off, "Ginny - she knows her way around!"

He didn't know anything about her, but he felt himself slowly falling in love with her. He hoped she felt the same way about him. The sound of thunder greeted Harry's ears as he walked to the ABC Cafe, wondering what sort of plots his friends were talking about now.


	19. ABC Cafe & Red and Black

CHAPTER NINETEEN  
(ABC Café/Red and Black)

In the crowded ABC Café, the students were talking about the upcoming Revolution. They were ready for the Revolution and hoped that the Revolution was ready for them.

"At Gringotts, the sections are prepared!" Scorpious exclaimed.

"At Spinner's End, they're straining at the leash!" Hugo chimed in.

"Students, workers, everyone!  
There's a river on the run  
Like the flowing of the tide  
Hogwarts coming to our side!" Cedric said happily.

Weasley ran a hand through his red hair and adjusted the buttons on his jacket.

"_The time is near…So near, it's stirring the blood in their veins!  
And yet, beware…Don't let the wine go to your brains!  
For the army we fight is a dangerous foe!  
With the men and the arms that we never can match  
Oh, it's easy to sit here and swat 'em like flies,  
But the National Guard will be harder to catch!  
We need a sign  
To rally the people,  
To call them to arms  
To bring them in line_!" Weasley sang. The others agreed as Harry entered, running a hand through his curly black hair. "Harry, you're late!"

Harry went to sit with Dean, Seamus and Cedric.

"What's wrong today? You look as you've seen a ghost." Dean commented, handing Harry a drink, which he quickly gulped down.

"Some wine and say what's going on!" Seamus spoke up.

"_A ghost you say…a ghost maybe  
She was just like a ghost to me  
One minute there, then she was gone_!" Harry sang to the others. Seamus got out of his chair and put an arm around Harry's shoulders. Harry scrunched up his face, for Seamus' breath was putrid.

"_I am agog!  
I am aghast!  
Is Potter in love at last?  
I've never heard him 'ooh' and 'aah'  
You talk of battles to be won,  
And here he comes like Don Ju-an  
It's better than an opera_!" Seamus sang.

The room got eerily quiet and all attention was focused on Weasley, the fearless leader.

"_It is time for us all  
To decide who we are  
Do we fight for the right  
To a night at the opera now?  
Have you asked of yourselves  
What's the price you might pay  
Is it simply a game  
For a rich young boy to play  
The colors of the world  
Are changing day by day  
Red – the blood of angry men!  
Black – the dark of ages past!  
Red – a world about to dawn  
Black – the night that ends at last_!" Weasley sang to his comrades.

"_Had you been there today_

_You might know how it feels  
To be struck to the bone  
In a moment of breathless delight  
Had you been there today  
You might also have known  
How the world may be changed  
In one burst of light!  
And what was right  
Seems wrong,  
And what was wrong  
Seems right_." Harry sang.

"Red…" Seamus said.

"I feel my soul on fire." Harry said.

"Black…" Seamus said.

"My world if she's not there." Harry replied.

"Red!" all the students but Weasley sang.

"The color of desire!" Harry told them.

"Black!" the students shouted.

"The color of despair!" Harry replied.

Weasley came over and clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder. The two of them had been best friends since childhood and did everything together.

"Harry, you're no longer a child,  
I do not doubt you mean it well,  
But now there is a higher call!  
Who cares about your lonely soul?  
We strive towards a larger goal.  
Our little lives don't count at all!" Weasley told his best friend. Harry sighed and looked for Ginny. She told him she would find out where the girl lived. She had heard the man she was with call her Luna.

"_Red – the blood of angry men!  
Black – the dark of ages past!  
Red – a world about to dawn!  
Black – the night that ends at last_!" the students voices rang out through the ABC Café.

"Well, Cedric, do we have all the guns? Hugo, Scorpious, our time is running short!" Weasley told his friends. Seamus snuck a drink from the flask around his waist. "Seamus, put the bottle down! Do we have the guns we need?"

"Give me brandy on my breath and I'll breathe them all to death!" Seamus joked. Harry smiled and saw Ginny coming down the street.

"In Durmstrang, they're with us to a man!" Cedric told his fearless leader.

"In Spinner's end, they're tearing up the stones!" Hugo commented.

"Twenty rifles good as new!" Scorpious spoke up.

At that moment, Colin ran in, shouting to the students.

"Listen!" Colin shouted, going from student to student.

"Twenty rounds for every man!" Hugo told Weasley, ignoring Colin's pleas.

"Double that at Beauxbatons!" George spoke up from a table in the corner.

"Listen everybody!" Colin shouted at the top of his lungs. The students still ignored him.

"Seven guns in Eeylops." Dennis spoke up.

"General Godric is dead!" Colin told the students. They all stopped talking and looked at the little boy. The students then turned their eyes to their fearless leader.

"Godric is dead. Godric! His death is the hour of fate. The people's man. His death is the sign we await!" Weasley told his friends. He then began pacing the length of the café. "On his funeral day, they will honor his name. it's a rallying cry that will reach every ear! In the death of Godric we will kindle the flame. They will see that the day of salvation is near! The time is near! Let us welcome them gladly with courage and cheer! Let us take to the streets with no doubt in our hearts. But a jubilant shout! They will come one and all!"

"They will come when we call!" the students shouted, pumping their fists in the air.

Harry was having a conversation with Cedric when Ginny entered the café. She saw that Harry was busy, so she stood off to the side. On her way back from finding Luna, she had heard loud noises coming from Godric's house. She had prayed that they were nothing for her to worry about.


	20. Do You Hear the People Sing?

CHAPTER TWENTY  
(chapter title – Do You Hear the People Sing?)

General Godric's funeral day came. All the students went, including Harry. Severus was in the crowd, dressed as a student.

"_Do you hear the people sing?  
Singing the song of angry men?  
It is the music of a people who  
Will not be slaves again!  
When the beating of your heart  
Echoes the beating of the drums  
There is a life about to start  
When tomorrow comes_!" the students sang. Some leapt from the crowd and went to the coach that was carrying Godric's coffin.

"_Will you join in our crusade?  
Who will be strong and stand with me?  
Somewhere beyond the barricade  
Is there a world you long to see?  
Then join in the fight  
That will give you the right to be free_!" the students continued singing as they stormed the funeral. Godric's family looked outraged as the students encircled the coffin.

"_Do you hear the people sing?  
Singing the song of angry men?  
It is the music of a people who  
Will not be slaves again!  
When the beating of your heart  
Echoes the beating of the drums  
There is a life about to start  
When tomorrow comes_!

_Will you give all you can give  
So that our banner may advance  
Some will fall and some will live  
Will you stand up and take your chance?  
The blood of the martyrs  
Will water the meadows of Hogwarts_!" the students' voices rang out. Somehow, Harry mounted a black Fresian and galloped to where the barricade would be. People threw down whatever they didn't want or need anymore. The shouts of students and people filled the air.

"_Do you hear the people sing?  
Singing the song of angry men?  
It is the music of a people  
Who will not be slaves again!  
When the beating of your heart  
Echoes the beating of the drums  
There is a life about to start when  
Tomorrow comes_!" Harry, Weasley, Colin and the students sang as they built the barricade.

Knowing they wouldn't need the barricade for a while, the students went to live their own lives until the Revolution started.

As he slept that night, Harry's thoughts went to the mysterious girl he had seen in the square the other day. He hoped that tomorrow Ginny would take him to her.


	21. In My Life

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE  
(chapter title – In My Life)

The following afternoon, Luna wiped a hand across her brow as she worked in her garden. She stood up and went to the garden gate.

"_How strange, this feeling that my life's begun at last  
This change, can people really fall in love so fast?  
What's the matter with you, Luna?  
Have you been too much on your own?  
So many things unclear  
So many things unknown_

_In my life  
There are so many questions and answers  
That somehow seem wrong  
In my life  
There are times when I catch in the silence  
The sigh of a faraway song  
And it sings  
Of a world that I long to see  
Out of reach  
Just a whisper away  
Waiting for me!  
_

_Does he know I'm alive?  
Do I know if he's real?  
Did he see what I saw?  
Does he feel what I feel?_

_In my life  
I'm no longer alone  
Now the love in my life  
Is so near  
Find me now  
Find me here_." Luna sang as she pulled weeds. Usually, the groundskeeper did the weed pulling, but he was out sick, so Luna volunteered. She didn't mind getting dirty. Sirius came out into the garden and took a seat next to Luna.

"_Dear Luna,  
You're such a lonely child  
How pensive, how sad you seem to be  
Believe me, were it within my power  
I'd fill each passing hour  
How quiet it must be, I can see  
With only me for company_." Sirius sang to his daughter, kissing her cheek. Luna was now a stunning beauty of eighteen and looked more like Penny with each passing day.

"_There's so little I know  
That I'm longing to know  
Of the child that I was  
In a time long ago  
There's so little you say  
Of the life you have known  
Why you keep to yourself  
Why we're always alone  
So dark, so dark and deep  
The secrets that you keep_

_In my life  
I have all that I want  
You are loving and gentle and good  
But Papa, dear Papa  
In your eyes I am just like the child  
Who was lost in the wood_." Luna sang as she went inside.

"_No more words  
No more words, it's a time that is dead  
There are words  
That are better unheard, better unsaid_!" Sirius told his daughter, following her into the house.

"_In my life  
I'm no longer a child and I yearn  
For the truth that you know  
Of the years…years ago_!" Luna sang.

"You will learn. Merlin gives truth to us all. In our time. In our turn." Sirius told Luna, going to his bedroom and closed the door. Luna sighed and went back out to the garden.

Harry and Ginny are making their way up the stone pathway. Harry is acting like a little boy in a candy store.

"_In my life  
She has burst like the music of angels  
The light of the sun  
And my life seems to stop  
As if something is over  
And something has scarcely begun  
Ginerva – you're the friend who has brought me here  
Thanks to you, I'm one with Merlin  
And heaven is near!  
And I soar through a world, that is new  
That is free_!" Harry sang, spinning around in a circle. He took Ginny's hands in his and spun her around, too.

Luna looked up from her reading when she heard noises outside the gate.

"_Every word that he says is a dagger in me!  
In my life  
There's been no one like him anywhere  
Anywhere, where he is…  
If he asked…I'd be his_!" Ginny sang to herself. She watched painfully as Harry went to the garden gate and saw the lovely vision sitting there, reading.

"_In my life  
There is someone who touches my life_." Harry and Ginny sang in unison.

"Waiting near." Harry said, reaching through the iron gates. The girl saw him, put her book down and went over to him. He felt his heart race as she looked into his green eyes.

"Waiting here." Ginny said, feeling tears in her eyes. She knew that the boy from her childhood was in love, but it wasn't with her.


	22. A Heart Full of Love

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO  
(chapter title – A Heart Full of Love)

Harry felt as though he were in a trance. This girl was a siren, holding his gaze with her beautiful eyes.

"_A heart full of love  
A heart full of song  
I'm doing everything all wrong  
Oh Merlin for shame  
I do not even know your name!  
Dear pretty girl  
Won't you say?  
Will you tell_?" Harry sang, not noticing their fingers intertwine with each other's.

"_A heart full of love  
No fear, no regret_." Luna sang, smiling at the young man.

"My name is Harry James Potter." Harry introduced himself.

"And mine's Luna." Luna introduced herself. Harry felt his heart soar – this angel finally had a name and it was a beautiful name, too.

"_Luna, I don't know what to say_!" Harry sang.

"Then make no sound." Luna told him, smiling wider.

"I am lost!" Harry exclaimed. Luna squeezed his hand gently through the iron bars of the gate.

"I am found!" Luna told Harry.

"_A hart full of light_." Harry sang.

"_A light bright as day_." Luna sang.

"_And you must never go away  
Luna, Luna_!" Harry told his beloved.

"_This is a chain we'll never break_." Luna told Harry, squeezing his fingers again.

"_Do I dream_?" Harry asked, pinching himself. He was awake.

"_I'm awake_." Luna responded, looking once more into Harry's eyes.

"_A heart full of love_." Harry sang.

"_A heart full of you_." Luna sang.

"_A single look and then I knew_." Harry sang.

"_I knew it, too_!" Luna sang.

"_From today_." Harry sang.

"_Every day_." Luna sang, unlatching the gate. Harry stumbled into her arms. He put his hands on her upper arms and drew her in close.

"_For it isn't a dream  
Not a dream after all_!" the two of them sang. They then kissed.

Ginny was in a dark corner, watching the scene unfold in front of her.

"_He was never mine to lose  
Why regret what could not be?  
These are words he'll never say  
Not to me…  
Not to me…  
Not for me…  
His heart full of love  
He will never feel this way_!" Ginny sang in counterpoint, feeling tears run down her cheeks. She knew that Harry would never feel the same way about her as he felt for Luna.


	23. The Attack on Rue Plummet

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE  
(chapter title – The Attack on Rue Plummet)

Ginny saw Malfoy coming towards her. Luna and Harry were nowhere to be seen.

"Malfoy, what are you doing so far out of our pitch?" Ginny asked the young man. He was thirteen years older than Ginny and was as handsome as the day they first met when Ginny was six years of age.

"This house, we're going to do it  
Rich man, plenty of scratch  
You remember he's the one that got away  
The other day  
Got a number on his chest  
Perhaps a fortune put away!" Malfoy told Ginny, an evil smirk on his face.

"Oh, Merlin, somebody help me! Dear Helga, what'll I do?  
He'll think this is an ambush! He'll think I'm in it, too!

What'll I do? What'll I say?  
I've got to warn them here  
I've got to find a way!" Ginny spoke quickly to herself. She went to a quiet corner and saw Aberforth and the rest of his gang arrive. None of them were attractive like Malfoy, but they weren't ugly, either.

"_This is his lair, I've seen the old fox around  
He keeps himself to himself  
He's staying close to the ground  
I smell profit here!  
Ten years ago,  
He came and paid for Luna  
I let her go for a song  
It's time we settled the debt  
This'll cost him dear_!" Aberforth told his gang.

"_What do I care  
Who you should rob  
Give me my share  
Finish the job_!" Crabbe demanded.

"_You shut your mouth  
Give me your hand_!" Aberforth demanded. He then noticed Ginny, but didn't recognize her. By this point, Ginny has come out of the shadows and was glaring at her father.

"What have we here?" Crabbe asked.

"Who is this hussy?" Aberforth questioned, squinting in the oncoming darkness.

"It's your brat Ginerva. Don't you know your own kid? Why's she hanging about here?" Goyle inquired.

"Ginerva, get on home. You're not needed in this. We're enough here without you!" Aberforth told his daughter, shooing her away.

"_I know this house I tell you  
There's nothing here for you  
Just the old man and the girl  
They live ordinary lives_!" Ginny told her father and his gang.

"Don't interfere! You've got some gall! Take care, young miss. You've got a lot to say!" Aberforth said.

"She's going soft!" Crabbe told Aberforth.

"Happens to all!" Zambini spoke up.

"Go home, Ginny. Go home, you're in the way!" Malfoy told Ginny, steering her in the other direction. Ginny turned back around.

"I'm gonna scream, I'm gonna warn them here!" Ginny warned.

"One little scream and you'll regret it for a year!" Aberforth threatened.

"_What a palaver, what an absolute treat  
To watch a cat and its father pick a  
Bone in the street_!" Zambini sang, watching the scene between Aberforth and Ginny.

"Not a sound out of you!" Crabbe told Ginny.

"Well, I told you I'd do it, told you I'd do it!" Ginny said. She then let out an ear-piercing scream.

"_You wait my girl, you'll rue this night  
I'll make you scream, you'll scream all right_!" Aberforth told Ginny, slapping her across the face. He then turned to his gang. "_Leave her to me, don't wait around! Make for the sewers! Go underground_!"

The gang scattered just as Harry and Luna made an appearance.

"_It was your cry that sent them away  
Once more Ginny saving the day!  
Dearest Luna, my friend Ginny  
Brought me to you, showed me the way  
Someone is near  
Let's not be seen  
Somebody's here_!" Harry sang. He looked up as Sirius entered the garden. Harry took Ginny's hand and the two of them hid in the bushes.

"Merlin, Luna! I heard a cry in the dark. I heard the shouts of angry voices in the street!" Sirius said, hugging Luna close, glad to see that she was safe.

"_That was my cry you heard, Papa  
I was afraid of what they'd do  
They ran away when they heard my cry_." Luna told Sirius, hugging him back. He then held her upper arms and looked into her kind and loving face.

"_Luna, my girl, what will become of you_?" Sirius questioned. He and Luna went back inside Rue Plummet and went to Luna's bedchamber. He helped unpin her hair.

"Three men I saw beyond the wall. Three men in shadow moving fast!" Luna explained, squeezing her eyes shut when Sirius found a rather stubborn hair pin.

"_This is a warning to us all  
These are the shadows of the past!  
Must be Severus!  
He's found my cover at last!  
I've got to get Luna away before they return_!" Sirius sang to himself. He then turned to his daughter, who was getting out her bedclothes.

"Papa? What is it?" Luna questioned.

"_We must get away from shadows  
They will never let us be  
Tomorrow to Flourish  
Then a ship across the sea!  
Hurry, Luna, prepare to leave and say no more  
Tomorrow we'll away!  
Hurry, Luna, it's time to close another door  
And live another day_!" Sirius told Luna, exiting her room so she could get dressed.

She quickly wrote a letter to Harry and left it on the garden gate. Ginny had been standing there after her father's gang and Harry left. She put the letter in her pocket, promising to give it to Harry when she could.


	24. One Day More!

**A/N: LAST SONG IN ACT 1. BUILDING THE BARRICADE/EPONINE'S ERRAND (OR RATHER GINNY'S ERRAND) SHOULD BE UP SOON! KEEP READING YOU LOVELY THINGS!**

**- Lucky**

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR  
(chapter title – One Day More!)

Sirius and Luna were in a carriage headed for a distant land. Luna looked out one window and Sirius looked out the other. It was a warm summer's day and both window's were down. A light breeze played with Luna's hair as she looked at the landscape passing by.

"_One day more,  
Another day, another destiny  
This never ending road to Potage  
These men who seem to know my crime  
Will surely come a second time  
One day more_!" Sirius sang, looking over at Luna. She looked upset.

"_I did not live until today!  
How can I live when we are parted_?" Harry sang, standing outside Rue Plummet.

"_One day more_…" Sirius sang, holding Luna's hand. She pulled it away and continued to stare out the window.

"_Tomorrow, you'll be worlds away,  
And yet with you my world has started_." Luna and Harry sang in unison.

"_One more day all on my own_." Ginny sang as she wrapped a bandage around her chest. She had on baggy pants, men's shoes and a floppy hat on her head. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun, but had a few strands framing her face. She had also put dirt on her face.

"_Will we ever meet again_?" Luna and Harry sang.

"_One more day with him not caring_." Ginny sang.

"_I was born to be with you_." The young lovers crooned.

"_What a life I might have known_." Ginny sang.

"_And I swear I will be true_!" Harry and Luna crooned.

"_But he never saw me there_!" Ginny sang, giving her bandage a tug. It felt a little tight, but she could still breathe easily. She then put the shirt she laid out over the bandages and stood up, clutching the letter from Luna to Harry in her hand.

"_One more day before the storm  
At the barricades of freedom  
When our ranks begin to form,  
Will you take your place with me_?" Weasley sang in counterpoint with Harry.

"_Do I follow where she goes?  
Shall I join my brothers there?  
Do I stay and do I dare_?" Harry sang in counterpoint with Weasley.

"_The time is now, the day is here_!" everyone sang.

"_One day more_!" Sirius belted.

Severus passed the guards standing in front of him. He straightened some of their uniforms as he passed in front of them.

"_One more day to revolution  
We will nip it in the bud!  
We'll be ready for these schoolboys  
They will wet themselves with blood_!" Severus told his officers.

"_One day more_!" Sirius sang again.

"_Watch 'em run amuck  
Catch 'em if they fall  
Never know your luck  
When there's a free-for-all,  
Here a little dip  
There a little touch,  
Most of them are goners,  
So they won't miss much_!" Aberforth and Umbridge sang as they snuck into the ABC Café and disguised themselves as students.

Harry arrived at the café and pinned a badge to his jacket. He helped his friends clean their guns and made sure that Seamus didn't drink all the wine.

"_One day to a new beginning  
Raise the flag of freedom high!  
Every man will be a king  
Every man will be a king!  
There's a new world for the winning  
There's a new world to be won  
Do you hear the people sing_?" the students all sang as they cleaned their weapons. Cedric found a red sheet and waved it in the air. One of the seamstresses sewed it to an old staff and handed it back to Cedric.

"_My place is here, I fight with you_!" Harry told the students. They yelled and clapped Harry on the back. Harry moved away from them and stared out the window, hoping wherever Luna was, she was safe.

By this point, everyone's voices blended together.

"_One day more_!" Sirius sang.

"_I did not live until today!  
How can I live when we are parted?  
Tomorrow you'll be worlds away  
And yet with you, my world has started_!" Luna and Harry sang.

"_One more day all on my own_…" Ginny sang.

"_I will join these people's heroes  
I will follow where they go  
I will know their little secrets  
I will know the things they know_!" Severus sang.

"_One day more_!" Sirius repeated his previous statement. He realized he made a horrible mistake and had the coachman turn around. Luna looked to Sirius and cried when she realized where they were going.

"_Watch 'em run amuck  
Catch 'em as they fall  
Never know your luck  
When there's a free for all_!" Umbridge and Aberforth sang.

"_One more day to revolution  
We will nip it in the bud  
We'll be ready for these schoolboys  
Tomorrow is the judgment day_!" Severus sang.

"_Tomorrow we'll be far away  
Tomorrow is the judgment day_!" Severus sang.

"_Tomorrow we'll discover  
What Merlin in Heaven has in store!  
One more dawn  
One more day  
One day more_!" everyone sang.

Luna collapsed on her bed at the apartment Sirius had rented, finally happy to be home at last.


	25. Building the Barricade & Ginny's Errand

**A/N: HEY EVERYONE! HERE'S THE FIRST CHAPTER OF ACT 2! THERE'S BEEN A SLIGHT CHANGE IN CHAPTERS - LET ME TELL YOU WHAT SONGS TO EXPECT IN THIS ACT.**

**HERE'S THE NEW ORDER OF SONGS (I KNOW THEY'RE NOT THE SAME AS THE MUSICAL/MOVIE AND I APOLOGIZE FOR THAT)**

**1) BUILDING THE BARRICADE/GINNY'S ERRAND  
2) ON MY OWN  
3) SEVERUS' ARRIVAL/LITTLE PEOPLE  
4) A LITTLE FALL OF RAIN  
5) NIGHT OF ANGUISH  
6) SIRIUS' ARRIVAL/FIRST ATTACK  
7) DAWN OF ANGUISH  
8) DRINK WITH ME  
9) BRING HIM HOME  
10) SECOND ATTACK/DEATH OF COLIN  
11) FINAL ATTACK  
12) DOG EATS DOG  
13) SEVERUS' SUICIDE  
14) TURNING  
15) EMPTY CHAIRS AT EMPTY TABLES  
16) EVERY DAY/A HEART FULL OF LOVE (REPRISE)  
17) SIRIUS' CONFESSION  
18) WEDDING CHORALE/BEGGARS AT THE FEAST  
19) FINALE**

**Enjoy the rest of Les MiserPotter!**

**- Lucky**

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE  
(chapter title – Building the Barricade/Ginny's Errand)

In the ABC Café, the revolutionaries and Weasley were having a meeting. Across one of the tables was a large map that showed the entire city.

"Here upon these stones  
We will build our barricade!" Weasley pointed to a spot on the map. It was a spot of land outside an abandoned café. "In the heart of the city we claim as our own! Each man to his duty and don't be afraid! Wait! I will need a report on the strength of the foe!"

Severus raised his hand. He was dressed as a rebel.

"_I can find out the truth  
I know their ways  
Fought their wars  
Served my time  
In the days of my youth_!" Severus told Weasley. He nodded and sent him on his way.

"Now the people will fight!" Neville spoke up.

"And so they might! Dogs will bark! Fleas will bite!" Seamus said, taking a drink from his bottle.

"They will do what is right!" Hugo told the students.

Harry was heading home from a long meeting with the students when he saw a young boy walking in the dark.

"Hey, little boy, what's this I see?" Harry asked, removing the boy's cap. A head full of red hair tumbled out of the hat. Harry would recognize it anywhere. "Merlin, Ginerva, the things you do!"

"I know this is no place for me, still I'd rather be with you!" Ginny told Harry, putting her hair back in her hat.

"Get out before the trouble starts! Get out, Ginny, you might get shot!" Harry warned.

"I've got you worried now I have! That shows you like me quite a lot!" Ginny told her dearest friend, batting her long eyelashes at him.

"There is a way that you can help! You are the answer to a prayer!" Harry told Ginny, handing her a letter from a pocket deep inside his jacket. "Please take this letter to Luna and pray to Merlin that she's still there!"

"Little you know, little you care!" Ginny told Harry, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She walked to the Rue Plummet, where she met Sirius.

"_I have a letter, good sir, it's addressed to your daughter Luna  
It's from a boy at the barricade, sir, in the Rue de Caruna_." Ginny told Sirius, making sure to speak in a low voice.

"_Give me that letter here, my boy_." Sirius told Ginny, but she drew her hand back.

"_He said to give it to Luna_." Ginny told Sirius.

"_You have my word that my daughter will know  
What this letter contains_." Sirius said, handing Ginny a Galleon. "_Tell the young man she will read it tomorrow and here's for your pains. Go careful now, stay out of sight. There's danger in the streets tonight_!"

Ginny tipped her hat and went on her way. When Ginny was gone, Sirius opened the letter and skimmed the words.

"Dearest Luna, you have entered my soul  
And soon you will be gone.  
Can it be only a week since we met  
And the world was reborn?  
If I should fall in the battle to come  
Let this be my goodbye…  
Now that I know you love me as well  
It is harder to die  
I pray that Merlin will bring me home  
To be with you.  
Pray for your Harry. He prays for you."

"Who was at the door, Papa?" Luna inquired as Sirius entered the sitting room at Rue Plummet. Luna was sitting on the couch, sewing one of her dresses. It had a tear and she was mending it.

"No one, sweet girl," he said, kissing the top of her head. "I'm going to bed. Will you be all right?"

Luna nodded and watched her Papa go to his room. She hoped the day would come soon when she would be able to exit and enter the house freely without her father accompanying her everywhere.

She finished her sewing and set it aside. She then said goodnight to the housekeeper before going to her room.

As she slept, she dreamt of Harry and hoped to Merlin he was alright.


	26. On My Own

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX  
(chapter title – On My Own)

Ginny now found herself alone without a friend in the world. She walked the streets as a light rain began to fall. She stopped outside the ABC Café for a while before continuing on.

"_On my own_

_Pretending he's beside me  
All alone  
I walk with him til morning  
Without him  
I feel his arms around me  
And when I lose my way I close my eyes  
And he has found me_." Ginny sang, pretending Harry was walking with her.

"_In the rain, the pavement shines like silver  
All the lights are misty in the river  
In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight  
And all I see is him and me forever and forever_

_And I know, it's only in my mind  
That I'm talking to myself and not to him  
And although I know that he is blind  
Still I say, there's a way for us_." Ginny sang, feeling the tears stream down her cheeks. She felt that Harry belonged with her and not with Luna. That girl had much personality as a tired donkey. She wiped the tears out of her eyes and felt the rain fall on her. Ginny shook the rain off her and looked to the sky as thunder rumbled.

"_I love him  
But when the night is over  
He is gone  
The river's just a river  
Without him  
The world around me changes  
The trees are bare and everywhere  
The streets are full of strangers_

_I love him  
But every day I'm learning  
All my life  
I've only been pretending  
Without me  
His world will go on turning  
A world that's full of happiness  
That I have never known!_

_I love him  
I love him  
I love him  
But only on my own_!" Ginny sang as she headed back to the barricade. On the way there, a rouge bullet hit her. She took easy breaths as she continued walking, hoping to die in Harry's arms.


	27. Severus' Arrival & Little People

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN  
(chapter title – Severus' Arrival/Little People)

Neville looked through his spy glass and saw Severus returning.

"He's back!" Neville called to the students. Neville put his spy glass away and helped Severus over the barricade. He then went to the abandoned café where the students had set up camp when they weren't fighting.

"_Listen my friends  
I have done as I said  
I have been to their lines  
I have counted each man  
I will tell what I can_." Severus started. He turned to Weasley. "_Better be warned, they have armies to spare and the danger is real. We will need all our cunning to bring them to heel_."

Weasley placed a hand on Severus' shoulder. Colin was in the corner, studying Severus from a distance.

"_Have faith  
If you know what their movements are  
We'll spoil their game  
There are ways that a people can fight  
We shall overcome their power_!" Weasley sang, smiling at the Inspector.

"_I have overheard their plans  
There will be no attack tonight  
They intend to starve us out  
Before they start a proper fight  
Concentrate their force  
Hit us from the right_." Severus told the students. Colin emerged from the shadows.

"Liar!  
_Good evening, dear Inspector  
Lovely evening, my dear!  
I know this man, my friends  
His name is Inspector Severus  
So don't believe a word he says  
'Cause none of it's true!  
This only goes to show  
What little people can do!_

_And little people know  
When little people fight  
We may look easy pickings  
But we've got some bite  
So never kick a dog  
Because it's just a pup  
We'll fight like twenty armies  
And we won't give up  
So you'd better run for cover  
When the pup grows up_!" Colin sang, glaring at Severus.

"Bravo, little Colin, you're the top of the class!" Seamus said, ruffling Colin's hair.

"So, what are we going to do with this snake in the grass?" Hugo inquired. Cedric and Scorpious held the Inspector by his upper arms. Severus struggled in their grasp.

"Tie this man and take him to the tavern in there!" Weasley instructed Scorpious and Cedric. They nodded and did what their fearless leader instructed. "The people will decide your fate Inspector Severus!"

"Take the bastard now and shoot him!" George commanded.

"Let us watch the devil dance!" Dean spoke up, raising his musket. Weasley put a hand on the rifle and glared at Dean. Dean sighed and lowered the musket.

"You'd have done the same Inspector, if we'd let you have your chance!" Weasley told the Inspector, watching Hugo and Scorpious tie the Inspector's wrists, hands, feet and legs in complicated knots.

"_Shoot me now or shoot me later  
Every schoolboy to his sport  
Death to each and every traitor  
I renounce your people's court_!" Severus sang as Cedric tied a bandana around the Inspector's mouth.

"Though we may not all survive here  
There are things that never die!" George told the Inspector.

"What's the difference? Die a schoolboy, die a policeman, die a spy!" Seamus exclaimed, clearly angry. He took a long sip from his bottle.

"Take this man, bring him through! There is work we have to do!" Weasley said.

There was a loud gunshot and the sound of someone trying to climb over the barricade. Harry looked over his shoulder and ran out of the tavern.


	28. A Little Fall of Rain

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT  
(chapter title – A Little Fall of Rain)

"There's a boy climbing the barricade!" Neville called. Harry ran over and took off Ginny's hat. Her face was caked in blood, along with her hands.

"I know him," Harry assured Neville. He then turned to Ginny. "Good Merlin, what are you doing? Ginny, have you no fear! Have you seen my beloved? Why have you come back here?"

"Took the letter like you said – I met her father at the door," Ginny said, squeezing her eyes tight. "He said he would give it. I don't think I can stand anymore!"

She stumbled and Harry caught her. He removed her hat and saw blood drenched in her already red hair.

"Ginerva, what's wrong? Feel there's something wet upon your hair. Ginerva you're hurt – you need some help – Merlin – it's everywhere!" Harry exclaimed, helping Ginny lay down on the ground. He sat behind her and held her in his arms. At this point, the students looked at their friend and the girl in his arms. She handed him a blood-stained letter just as rain began falling.

"I kept this from you and I'm sorry." Ginny apologized.

"It's all right, Ginny." Harry told her, feeling tears in his eyes.

"_Don't you fret, Sir Harry  
I don't feel any pain  
A little fall of rain  
Can hardly hurt me now  
You're here, that's all I need to know  
And you will keep me safe  
And you will keep me close  
And rain will make the flowers grow_." Ginny sang, resting her head on Harry's chest.

"_But you will live, Ginny, dear Merlin above  
If I could close your wounds with words of love_." Harry sang.

"_Just hold me now, and let it be  
Shelter me, comfort me_." Ginny sang. She felt Harry's arms wrap tighter around her.

"_You would live a hundred years  
If I could show you how  
I won't desert you now_." Harry sang to his dearest friend.

"_The rain can't hurt me now  
This rain will wash away what's past  
And you will keep me safe  
And you will keep me close  
I'll sleep in your embrace at last_

_The rain that brings you here  
Is heaven blessed  
The skies begin to clear  
And I'm at rest  
A breath away from where you are  
I've come home from so far_." Ginny sang, gasping for air. Harry looked over at her, holding her so that she was comfortable in his arms. She looked into his kind green eyes and put a hand to his face. "_So, don't you fret, Sir Harry, I don't feel any pain. A little fall of rain. Can hardly hurt me now. That's all I need to know. And you will keep me safe and you will keep me close_."

"_Hush-a-bye, dear Ginerva  
You won't feel any pain  
A little fall of rain  
Can hardly hurt you now  
_I'm here." Harry told his friend, stroking her hair. "_I will stay with you til you are sleeping_."

"_And rain_…" Ginny sang. Harry felt all eyes on him, but he ignored them.

"_And rain._..." Harry repeated, feeling her get lighter in his arms.

"_Will make the flowers_…." Ginny whispered. She took one last breath and passed on.

"_Will make the flowers_…Grow." Harry whispered. He kissed Ginny's forehead and held her in his arms. He sobbed as he rocked his friend, hoping that she would have a better life in heaven.


	29. Night of Anguish

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE  
(chapter title – Night of Anguish)

Harry was still sobbing when Weasley, Dean, George, Neville and Hugo came over.

"_She is the first to fall  
The first of us to fall upon this barricade_." Weasley sang, his voice hallow and sad.

Harry looked up from crying and wiped his eyes.

"_Her name was Ginerva  
Her life was cold and dark  
Yet, she was unafraid_." Harry sang, still holding Ginny in his arms.

"We fight here in her name." George announced. The others agreed.

"She will not die in vain." Dean told Harry.

"She will not be betrayed." Neville said.

"On my count, we lift her. One, two, three." Hugo told his friends. They carried Ginny's body off.

Harry stood up and fell into Weasley's arms. Weasley patted his friend on the back, letting him know it was all right.

"I'm sorry, Weasley." Harry apologized.

"It's all right, Harry. You just lost a friend – there's no shame to cry over that." Weasley told Harry as they walked back to the tavern.

Meanwhile, Sirius was dressed in an enemy's clothing and advancing toward the barricade, hoping it wasn't too late to save Harry.


	30. Sirius' Arrival & First Attack

CHAPTER THIRTY  
(chapter title – Sirius' Arrival/First Attack)

Neville was watching the borders of the barricade when a shadow caught his attention. He raised his musket as the shadow approached. Weasley came out of nowhere and put his hand on the barrel. Neville lowered his weapon and turned to Weasley.

"Here comes a man in uniform. What brings you to this place?" Neville asked loudly.

"I come here as a volunteer!" Sirius responded.

"Approach and show your face!" Weasley shouted as marching feet made him look up. The enemy was coming and fast! At this time, all the students were preparing to fight, including Harry, who was grief-stricken. The students encouraged him not to fight, but he insisted he was fine.

"You wear an army uniform!" Hugo pointed out.

"That's why they let me through!" Sirius explained as Cedric opened the door for him.

"You've got some years behind you, sir." Weasley pointed out.

"There's much that I can do!" Sirius said.

"You see that prisoner over there?" Weasley asked, nodding to the tavern. Sirius looked over Weasley's shoulder and saw Severus there, knocked out, gagged and his limbs bound together.

"A volunteer like you!" Cedric said, getting his gun ready.

"A spy who calls himself Severus!" Weasley said.

"He's gonna get it, too!" Seamus spoke up, readying his rifle. Even though he was a drunk, Seamus had very good aim.

"They're getting ready to attack," Weasley told his friends. He then handed Sirius an extra rifle. "Take this and use it well. But if you shoot us in the back, you'll never live to tell!"

The sounds of marching feet grew louder. Neville looked once more through his spy glass.

"Platoon of sappers advancing toward the barricade!" Neville shouted to Weasley. "Troops behind them, fifty men or more!"

Sirius looked into Weasley's face. The young man was calm as the enemy appeared. He raised his hand and balled his hand into a fist.

"FIRE!" Weasley commanded.

The students worked together to fight off the enemy. Sirius looked over his head and saw someone try to attack Weasley. Sirius shot the man and smiled, feeling adrenaline flow through his veins like an angry river.

"Sniper!" someone shouted. Sirius killed them instantly.

After three hours, the fighting came to a stop. The enemy ran and the students applauded. Weasley and Harry were the only ones not celebrating. No one had been seriously injured, so Harry offered to clean up the ones that had minor injuries.

"See how they run away!" Cedric shouted, wiping sweat off his brow.

"By Merlin we've won the day!" Hugo exclaimed.

"They will be back again, make an attack again!" Weasley reminded his friends. He then turned to Sirius. "_For your presence of mind for the deed you have done. I will thank you, good sir, when our battle is won_!"

"Give me no thanks, sir. There is something you can do." Sirius told Weasley.

"If it is in my power…" Weasley told Sirius.

"Give me the spy, Severus. Let me take care of him!" Sirius said. Weasley nodded and untied the bandana around Severus' mouth.

"The law is inside out! The world is upside down!" Severus exclaimed.

"_Do what you have to do  
The man belongs to you_." Weasley told Sirius. He then turned to the students, brushing his red hair out of his face. "The enemy may be regrouping. Come my friends, back to your positions. _The night is falling fast_!"

Before he went to be with his friends, Colin handed Sirius his favorite knife. Sirius smiled and ruffled Colin's hair. He then turned to Severus.

"We meet again." Sirius told the Inspector.

"You've hungered for this all your life. Take your revenge. How right you should kill with a knife!" Severus growled.

"You talk too much," Sirius teased as he cut through the Inspector's ties. "Your life is safe in my hands."

"I don't understand." Severus said, his tone confused.

"Get out of here!" Sirius hissed as he helped Severus stand.

"Black, take care I'm warning you!" Severus threatened.

"Clear out of here!" Sirius said, taking Severus to an alleyway where the could talk more freely.

"_Once a thief, forever a thief  
What you want you always steal  
You would trade your life for mine  
Yes, Black, you want a deal!  
Shoot me now for all I care  
If you let me go beware  
You'll still answer to Severus_!" Severus sang to the convict. Sirius smiled and shook his head.

"_You are wrong and always have been wrong  
I'm a man, no worse than any man  
You are free and there are no conditions  
No bargains or petitions  
There's nothing that I blame you for  
You've done your duty, nothing more  
If I come out of this alive, you'll find me  
At Number 55 Rue Plummet  
No doubt our paths will cross again_!" Sirius told the Inspector.

Sirius fired his rifle into the air. Severus left quickly. A few of the students applauded, thinking that Severus has been shot.

CH


	31. Dawn of Anguish

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE  
(chapter title – Dawn of Anguish)

Weasley passed in front of his friends. A few were asleep, but Cedric, Hugo, Neville, Dean and Seamus were a few who were awake and alert.

"Cedric, you take the watch. They won't attack until it's light," Weasley told Cedric. Cedric nodded and made himself comfortable. Weasley then turned to the rest of his friends. "Everybody keep the faith, for certain as our banner flies. We are not alone. The people too must rise."

He saw Harry putting together some of the fallen barricade. Weasley walked over to him and laid a hand on his shoulder, making Harry jump.

"Harry, rest." Weasley told his best friend before going inside to join the rest of the students.

Harry sighed and made himself comfortable, not feeling the need to sleep. He couldn't sleep – the vision of Ginny soaked in her own blood scared him. He tried to think of Luna instead, hoping to see her soon.


	32. Drink With Me

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO  
(chapter title – Drink With Me)

Meanwhile, inside the tavern, the students were having a drink. Hugo had found women to keep the men company. George and Scorpious were off somewhere, probably sleeping with a girl one last time before the Revolution really hit.

"_Drink with me  
To days gone by  
Sing with me  
The songs we knew_." Hugo sang, raising his glass. Neville and a few other students toasted him.

"_Here's to pretty girls  
Who went to our heads_." Neville toasted.

"_Here's to witty girls_

_Who went to our beds_." Dennis toasted, clanking glasses with his friends.

"_Here's to them and here's to you_." The men toasted, clanking glasses.

Seamus was at a far table by himself, his hands wrapped around his beloved bottle.

"_Drink with me to days gone by  
Can it be you fear to die?  
Will the world remember you_

_When you fall?  
Could it be your death  
Means nothing at all?  
Is your life just one more lie_?" Seamus sang.

"_Drink with me to days gone by  
To the life that used to be  
Let the win of friendship  
Never run dry_." All the men sang in counterpoint with the women.

"_Drink with me to days gone by  
To the life that used to be  
At the shrine of friendship  
Never say die_." All the women sang in counterpoint with the men.

"_Here's to you and here's to me_." They all toasted each other.

Meanwhile, outside, Harry thought about Luna for the first time that night.

"_Do I care if I should die  
Now she goes across the sea?  
Life without Luna  
Means nothing at all  
Would you weep, Luna  
Should Harry fall?  
Would you weep,  
Luna  
For me_?" Harry sang, feeling his voice grow heavy with sleep.

Sirius hadn't been really listening until he heard Harry mention Luna's name. He took a moment to look at the lad who had finally fell asleep.

Sirius found an empty chair and sat next to Harry, reaching down once in a while to stroke his hair, like a mother might do with her child.


	33. Bring Him Home

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE  
(chapter title – Bring Him Home)

Sirius continued to stare at Harry as the young man slept. Weasley noticed this, but didn't comment. If it was important, he was sure that Harry would say something to him.

"_Merlin on high  
Hear my prayer  
In my need  
You have always been there_

_He is young  
He's afraid  
Let him rest  
Heaven blessed  
Bring him home  
Bring him home  
Bring him home_

_He's like the son I might have known  
If Merlin had granted me a son  
The summers die  
One by one  
How soon they fly  
On and on  
And I am old  
And will be gone_." Sirius sang, continuing to stroke Harry's curls. The lad didn't seem to mind. He continued sleeping, his breathing nice and even.

"_Bring him peace  
Bring him joy  
He is young  
He is only a boy_

_You can take  
You can give  
Let him be  
Let him live_

_If I die, let me die  
Let him live  
Bring him home  
Bring him home  
Bring him home_." Sirius sang in Harry's ear. He hoped Merlin heard his prayer and returned the young man safe and sound to Luna. Luna had been at the house the entire time, taking care of a few things.

Sirius knew one day soon that Harry and Luna would be together. He hoped that one day would come soon.


	34. Second Attack & Death Attack of Colin

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR  
(chapter title – Second Attack (Death of Colin))

The following morning, the enemy had attacked at first light. Everyone was now up and awake. All the students and Sirius were fighting in the battle. Well, Sirius was tending to the wounded and sick.

Weasley, Hugo, Harry and Sirius were reloading their guns while their friends fought.

"How do we stand, Hugo, make your report." Weasley told Hugo.

"We've guns enough, but ammunition's short." Hugo reported, ducking when a bullet zoomed over his head.

"_Let me go into the streets  
There are bodies all around  
Ammunition to be had  
Lots of bullets to be found_!" Harry volunteered. He started to go when Weasley pulled back on his jacket.

"I won't let you go, it's too much of a chance!" Weasley argued.

"The same is true for any man here!" Harry argued back.

"Let me go. He's no more than a boy. I am middle-aged. I have nothing to fear." Sirius volunteered.

Colin then came out of nowhere with a leather satchel that was used for gathering bullets and gunpowder.

"You need somebody quicker and I volunteer!" Colin said, climbing over the barricade before anyone could object.

"Colin!" Seamus called. He had found Colin on the streets and raised him.

"Come back, Colin, don't you dare!" George called.

"Someone pull him down at once!" Neville demanded. None of the students were close to Colin to pull the little ten-year-old to safety.

Colin was now down on enemy ground. He instantly found some bullets. The students looked over the top of the barricade to see what was happening to their little friend.

"Look at me, I'm almost there!" Colin exclaimed.

There was a gunshot and Colin ducked. Seamus chewed on his fingernails as Colin continued to gather ammo and bullets.

"_Little people know, when little people fight, we_-" he stopped singing when there was a gunshot. Blood poured from his leg. "_May look easy pickings, but we've got some bite_! Ow!" blood poured from his right side. "_So never kick a dog, because he's just a pup_," he had tears streaming down his face, but he didn't stop collecting bullets and ammo. "_We'll fight like twenty armies and we won't give up. So you'd better run for cover when the pup grows_…" he was hit between the eyes, took a final breath and died.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! COLIN!" Seamus yelled. Several students restrained him as he tried to go over the barricade to save his young friend.

Cedric, Harry and Sirius buried Colin next to Ginny as a tribute to their fallen comrades. Harry placed a white lily at Colin's grave, as he had done with Ginny. He hoped the two of them would be friends in heaven.


	35. Final Attack

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE  
(chapter title – Final Attack)

The fighting continued the rest of the day and well into the night. The fighting ceased when both sides ran out of gunpowder and bullets.

It was dawn when a loud voice made the students jump and look over the side of the barricade.

"You at the barricade listen to this  
The people of Hogwarts sleep in their beds  
You have no chance  
No chance at all  
Why throw your lives away?" a voice called to the students.

"Let us die facing our foes!" Weasley told his friends. They were sipping coffee and supporting Seamus, who didn't sleep a wink the following night.

"Make 'em pay through the nose!" Scorpious shouted.

"Make 'em pay for every man!" Cedric exclaimed.

"Let others rise to take our place until the Earth is free!" Weasley shouted.

There was increasingly heavy gunfire. Harry was shot, but Sirius got him out of the way. Cedric, Neville, Hugo, Dean, George and Scorpious were killed instantly. Weasley and Seamus hid inside the tavern. Seamus was killed. Weasley wove the red flag above his head, a serious look on his face. He stumbled backwards as a bullet hit him in the chest. He hung upside down out a second story window.

Soon, all the friends of the ABC Café were killed, except Harry. He was unconscious and bleeding badly from his left shoulder. His right leg had also been hit and it was a through-and-through. Sirius worried that the young man wouldn't survive.

He carried him to safety in the sewers, hoping they would be safe.

Meanwhile, Severus looked at each student lying side by side in the abandoned tavern they used as headquarters. He saw Colin lying there and stared at the young boy for a long time. He then unpinned his medal he had received the first year he worked at Azkaban and put it on Colin's shirt, reminding himself how brave the young boy had been.

He then went by the barricade mounted on Titan. Severus looked everywhere and saw that Sirius' body was nowhere to be found. He heard loud running water and smelled a putrid odor. He dismounted Titan and handed his reins to a friend standing by. Severus had no choice but to go into the sewers to find Black, whether he wanted to or not.

He walked a top the sewers and waited for Black to make an appearance at the exit to the sewers.

He was going to catch the convict once and for all. No escapes, no excuses, no nothing. He didn't want to, but if he could, he could shoot the convict and chain him. He would then drag him behind Titan and take him back to Azkaban once and for all.


	36. Dog Eats Dog

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX  
(chapter title – Dog Eats Dog)

Sirius held his breath as he and Harry entered the sewers. Harry was heavy, so Sirius had to adjust the boy's positioning more than once.

"This is disgusting!" Sirius thought to himself as they made their way through the sewers. "What sort of person would want to live down here?"

Sirius thought he heard talking up ahead. He put Harry down for a minute when something grabbed Harry's arm. Sirius screamed and fought off Aberforth.

"Hello! What's this?" he took a gold tooth out of a dead man's mouth and stuffed it into one of the many pockets in his tunic.

"_Here's a hint of gold  
Stuck into a tooth  
Pardon me, sir  
You won't be needing it no more  
Shouldn't be to hard to sell  
Add it to the pile  
Add it to the stock  
Here among the sewer rats  
A breath away from hell  
You get accustomed to the smell_

_Well, someone's got to clean them up my friends  
Bodies on the highway  
Law and order upside down  
Someone's got to collect their odds and ends  
As a service to the town._" Aberforth sang as he went through more of the filth. He was five feet from Sirius and Harry. "Hello there," he took the ring off Harry's right pinky and shoved it onto his own finger. It fit, but was a little snug. That's when Sirius taking a deep breath inward made Aberforth jump. "What the bloody hell are you doing down here?"

"I might ask you the same question. What's the best way out of here?" Sirius demanded. Aberforth told him directions and watched him carry something that resembled a young man over his shoulder and walk by him.

"_Here's a tasty ring  
Pretty little thing  
Wouldn't want to waste it  
That would really be a crime  
Thank you, sir, I'm in your debt_

_Here's a little toy, take it off the boy  
His heart's no longer going and he's  
Lived his little time, but his watch  
Is ticking yet_

_Well, someone's got to clean them up my friends  
Before the little harvest disappears into the mud  
Someone's got to collect their odds and ends  
When the gutters run with blood_

_It's a world where the dog eats dog  
Where they kill for the bones in the street  
And Merlin in heaven, he don't interfere  
'Cause he's dead as the stiffs at my feet_

_I raise my eyes to see the heavens  
And only the moon looks down  
The harvest moon shines down_!" Aberforth sang, collecting the rest of his goodies before disappearing.

Sirius has exited the sewers and has run into Severus, standing five feet above him.

"_It's you, Severus! I knew you wouldn't wait too long!  
The faithful servant at his post once more  
This man's done no wrong and he needs a doctor's care_!" Sirius sang in a pleading voice.

"_I warned you I would not give in! I won't be swayed_!" Severus spat. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Sirius's chest.

"Another hour yet, then I'm yours! And all our debts are paid!" Sirius told the Inspector.

"The man of mercy comes again and talks of justice!" Severus mocked.

"Come, time is running short! _Look down, Severus, he's standing in his grave! Give way, Severus, there is a life to save_!" Sirius sang in counterpoint with Severus.

"_Take care, Black, before I change my mind! I will be waiting 24601_!" Severus sang in counterpoint with Sirius.

Sirius ran past Severus, half carrying, half dragging the young man he had with him. Severus started to follow, but what was the point?

He decided to take a walk and ended up at the river Seine. He kept looking down at the river, as if determining how deep the river was.

C


	37. Severus' Suicide

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN  
(chapter title – Severus' Suicide)

Severus continued walking the deserted streets until he came to a bridge overlooking the river Seine.

"_Who is this man?  
What sort of devil is he?  
To have me caught in a trap  
And choose to let me go free?  
It was his hour at last  
To put a seal on my fate  
Wipe out the past  
And wash me clean off the slate!  
All it would take was a flick of his knife  
Vengeance was his  
And he gave me back my life!_

_Damned if I'll live in the debt of a thief!  
Damned if I'll yield at the end of the chase  
I am the Law and the Law is not mocked!  
I'll spit his pity right back in his face  
There is nothing on earth that we share  
It is either Black or Severus!_

_How can I now allow this man  
To hold dominion over me?  
This desperate man whom I have hunted  
He gave me my life, he gave me freedom.  
I should have perished by his hand  
It was his right  
It was my right to die as well  
Instead I live, but live in hell!_

_And my thoughts fly apart  
Can this man be believed?  
Shall his sins be forgiven?  
Shall his crimes be reprieved?_

_And must I now begin to doubt  
Who never doubted all these years  
My heart is stone and still it trembles  
The world I have known is lost in shadow.  
Is he from heaven or from hell?  
And does he know  
That granting me my life today  
This man has killed me even so?_

_I am reaching, but I fall  
And the stars are black and cold  
As I stare into the void  
Of a world that cannot hold  
I'll escape now from that world  
From the world of Sirius Black  
There is nowhere I can turn  
There is no way to go on_!" Severus sang. He got on top of the bridge, took a step and closed his eyes as he threw himself into the river. His body was taken under the waves.

The only thing that survived the fall was his blue hat.


	38. Turning

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT  
(chapter title – Turning)

Three days later, women cleaned up the streets running with blood of the revolutionaries. The women didn't know the students, but they volunteered to clean the blood up.

"_Did you see them going off to fight?  
Children of the barricade who didn't last the night_  
_Did you see them lying where they died?  
Someone used to cradle them and kiss them  
When they cried  
Did you see them lying side by side_?" a few of the women sang.

"Who will wake them?" a little girl asked, clutching her rag doll closer to her. She watched her mother clean up the streets.

"No one ever will." The girl's mother answered, looking over at her daughter and stroked her hair.

"_No one ever told them that a summer day can kill_!" another woman sang, bursting into tears.

"_They were schoolboys, never held a gun  
Fighting for a new world that would  
Rise up like the sun_." Another woman sang.

"Where's that new world now the fighting's done?" a young woman asked.

"_Nothing changes, nothing ever will  
Every year another brat, another mouth to fill  
Same old story, what's the use of tears  
What's the use of praying if there's nobody who hears_." An older woman spoke up. Her sons Hugo, Scorpious and Dean, had been killed in the Revolution. They had been 15, 16 and 18.

"_Turning, turning, turning, turning, turning through the years_

_Turning, turning, turning through the years  
Minutes into hours and the hours into years  
Nothing changes, nothing ever can  
Round and round the roundabout and back where you began  
Round and round and back where you began_." All the women sang.

The women finished cleaning the streets and went their own ways.


	39. Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE  
(chapter title – Empty Chairs at Empty Tables)

Harry leaned on his cane as he entered the ABC Café. It looked different without his friends there. He looked at the deserted café, swearing he could hear his friends talking and laughing.

"_There's a grief that can't be spoken  
There's a pain goes on and on  
Empty chairs at empty tables  
Now my friends are dead and gone_

_Here they talked of revolution  
Here it is they lit the flame  
Here they sang about tomorrow_

_And tomorrow never came_

_From the table in the corner  
They could see a world reborn  
And they rose with voices ringing  
And I can hear them now!  
The very words that they had sung  
Became their last communion  
On this lonely barricade at dawn_." Harry sang. He stumbled further into the café and saw the table where he, Cedric, Dean and Hugo laughed and drunk ale while they were in school. The café was also where George proposed to his girlfriend, Dominique. She was now expecting the couple's first child any day now.

Harry felt a chill, even though all the windows were closed. He looked over his shoulder and saw the ghosts of his friends.

"_Oh my friends, my friends forgive me  
That I live and you are gone  
There's a grief that can't be spoken  
There's a pain goes on and on_

_Phantom faces at the windows  
Phantom shadows on the floor  
Empty chairs at empty tables  
Where my friends will meet no more_." Harry continued singing. The ghosts of his friends vanished. Harry sat down in a chair when he felt throbbing in his leg. The doctor told him that the bullet in his leg had been a through and through and that it would take time and patience would heal it.

"_Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me  
What your sacrifice was for  
Empty chairs at empty tables  
Where my friends will meet no more_." Harry crooned, looking at the café one more time.

He found the energy to get up out of the chair. Luna rushed to his side where she will always would be the rest of his life.


	40. Everyday & A Heart Full of Love (Rep)

CHAPTER FORTY  
(chapter title – Everyday/A Heart Full of Love (Reprise))

A month has passed since that awful night. Harry still uses his cane, but thanks to Luna, he's getting better all the time.

Sirius and Remus watched Luna and Harry take a walk together. Remus had been out of town on business, but returned the night before.

"I can't believe how strong he's getting." Remus commented.

"It's because of all the love and support Luna is giving him." Sirius said.

"You know that she will marry him, correct?" Remus questioned.

"I know. They've been in love for a long time." Sirius replied, watching Luna take Harry's arm and set the cane aside. Harry began walking with firmer steps.

"_Every day  
You walk with stronger step  
You walk with longer step  
The worst is over_." Luna sang to Harry, her voice like a sweet melody.

"_Every day  
I wonder every day  
Who was it brought me here  
From the barricade_." Harry sang, leaning on Luna for support.

"_Don't think about it Harry  
With all the years ahead of us  
I will never go away  
And we will be together  
Every day  
Every day,  
We'll remember that night  
And the vow that we made:  
A heart full of love  
A night full of you  
The words are old  
But always true  
Oh Merlin for shame  
You did not even know my name_!" Luna teased, pulling Harry closer to her.

"Dear lovely girl. I was lost in your spell." Harry told Luna. He turned her so she was facing him and gently kissed her.

From a distance, Remus and Sirius smiled, knowing that their children had found love at last.

"_A heart full of love  
No fear, no regret  
My name is Harry James Potter_." Luna sang, putting her hands on Harry's elbows.

"Luna, Luna!" Harry called, bringing her closer to him.

"_I saw you waiting and I knew_." Luna sang as Harry placed a hand on her cheek.

"_Waiting for you! At your feet_." Harry sang, resting his forehead on Luna's.

"At your call." She whispered in Harry's ear.

Remus tipped his hat to Sirius and walked off. Sirius smiled at his friend and turned to face the young couple.

"_And it wasn't a dream. Not a dream after all_!" the two of them sang. They then kissed each other passionately.

"_She was never mine to keep  
She is youthful, she is free  
Love is the garden of the young  
Let it be…  
Let it be…  
A heart full of love  
This I give you on this day_!" Sirius interjected.

Luna was the first one to spot Sirius. She helped Harry walk over to him.

"Sir, this is a day I never can forget  
Is gratitude enough for giving me Luna?  
Your home shall be with us  
And not a day shall pass  
But we will prove our love  
To you, whom we shall call  
A father to us both  
A father to us all!" Harry said to Sirius.

Luna took this as her cue to leave. She found Harry's uncle and went to sit with him. She could tell that she and Remus would be great friends.


	41. Sirius' Confession

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE  
(chapter title – Sirius' Confession)

Sirius took a deep breath and let it out – it was time that this lad knew the truth about his past.

"_Not another word my son,  
There's something now that must be done  
You've spoken from the heart  
And I must do the same  
There is a story, sir  
Of slavery and shame  
That you alone must know  
I never told Luna  
She had enough of tears  
She's never known the truth  
Of the story you must hear  
Of years ago_." Sirius started. He took another deep breath and blinked.

"Go on." Harry urged. Sirius nodded and continued his story.

"_There lived a man named Sirius Black  
He stole some bread to save his sister's son  
For nineteen winters served his time  
In sweat he washed away his crime  
Years ago  
He broke parole and lived a life apart  
How could he tell Luna and break her heart?  
It's for Luna that this must be faced  
If he is caught, she is disgraced  
The time is come to journey on  
And from this day he must be gone  
Who am I?  
Who am I?_" Sirius questioned.

"You're Sirius Black  
_What can I do  
That will turn you from this?  
Good sir, you cannot leave  
Whatever I tell my beloved Luna  
She will never believe_!" Harry protested.

"_Make her believe  
I have gone on a journey  
A long way away  
Tell her my heart was too  
Full for farewells  
It is better this way  
Promise me, good sir, Luna will never word_." Sirius sang. He pulled a box out of his pocket and handed it to Harry. He looked inside and saw a beautiful wedding ring. "It belonged to Luna's mother."

"I give my word." Harry promised, putting the ring in his coat pocket.

"What I have spoken, why I must go." Sirius said.

"For the sake of Luna, it must be so!" Harry told Sirius. He watched the man exit the church and run to a nearby carriage.

Harry proposed to Luna that night. She said 'yes' and kissed Harry. He kissed her back for the longest time, happy to have her to himself.

"We should have Papa at the wedding, shouldn't we, love?" Luna asked as she and Harry readied themselves for bed.

"Your father is packing for a journey he has to go on, my dear." Harry told Luna, placing his glasses on the bedside table. Luna propped herself on an elbow and turned so she was facing Harry.

"He's leaving? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Luna questioned.

"He didn't want you to know why he was leaving." Harry explained.

Luna sighed angrily and turned so she wasn't facing him. Harry sighed and blew out the candle on the bedside table.


	42. Suddenly (Reprise)

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO  
(chapter title – Suddenly (Reprise))

The following morning, Harry and Luna were having breakfast when the subject of Luna's father came up.

"Where's he gone?  
Without a word?  
That wouldn't be his way to go

Why so sudden?  
Why so strange?  
And did he say how long he'd be gone?" Luna inquired.

Across town, Sirius was packing for his journey when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He set the heavy case down and sat upon it, suddenly feeling very dizzy. He carefully stood and fell to the ground.

The coachman got Sirius into the coach and headed for the hospital. Sirius slipped in and out of consciousness.

"_All he asked for me to say  
Is he's on a journey far away_." Harry sang to his true love, reaching across the table for her hand. He gently kissed it and looked at her ring.

"_He can't leave us now. How he breaks my heart_." Luna sang, sadness in her voice. Harry moved next to her and tilted her chin upwards. He kissed her forehead and looked into her kind eyes.

"And we will never be apart." Harry told Luna. He couldn't wait to marry his love in two short months.


	43. Wedding Chorale & Beggars at the Feast

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE  
(chapter title – Wedding Chorale/Beggars at the Feast)

_Two months later_

Harry and Luna drunk from the same glass of wine as wedding bells chimed. Harry kissed his bride as the two of them entered the ball room. The two of them danced happily and with elegance.

"_Ring out the bells upon this day of days!  
May all the angels of Merlin above  
In jubilation sing their songs of praise  
And crown this blessed day with peace and love_." The choir sang from the rafters.

The procession became a dancing celebration. Harry and Luna's favorite waltz is played.

The Major Domo stamped his foot as two familiar people dressed differently entered the ball room. Harry and Luna stopped dancing and watched the people enter the room.

"The Baron and Baroness de Aberbridge wish to pay their respects to the groom!" the Major Domo announced.

"I'll be right back, my love." Harry told Luna walking over to the people. Luna went to talk with a count and watched Harry from the corner of her eye.

"_I forget where we met  
Was it not at the Chateau Lafarge  
Where the Duke did that puke  
Down the Duchess's de-coll-etage_?" Aberforth spoke in a fake French accent.

"No, Baron de Aberbridge. The circles I move in are humbler by far!" Harry answered, straightening his tie. "Go away, Aberforth! Do you think I don't know who you are?"

"He's not fooled. Told you so. Show the lad what you've come here to show. Tell the boy what you know!" Umbridge told Aberforth.

There was applause from the dancers as the waltz finished. Harry looked over at Luna and decided she was fine. He led the two crooks out of the ball room and into an adjoining room.

"When I look at you, I remember Ginerva. She was more than you deserved, who gave her birth. But now she is with Merlin and happier, I hope, than here on Earth!" Harry told the two of them. He saw both their faces pale and actual tears form in Aberforth's eyes.

The waltz started up again.

"So it goes, heaven knows. Life has dealt me some terrible blows!" Aberforth sobbed. Harry rolled his eyes.

"_You've got cash and a heart  
You could give us a bit of a start!  
We can prove, plain as ink  
Your bride's father is not what you think._" Umbridge told Harry.

"There's a tale I could tell…" Aberforth started.

"Information we're willing to sell…" Umbridge finished.

"There's a man that he slew. I saw the corpse clear as I'm seeing you! What I tell you is true!" Aberforth told Harry.

"Pity to disturb you at a feast like this. But five hundred Galleons surely wouldn't come amiss." Umbridge told Harry.

"In Merlin's name say what you have to say!" Harry pleaded. He was sure Luna was worried about him.

"But first you pay!" Aberforth said. "What I saw, clear as light, Sirius Black in the sewers that night. Had this corpse on his back. Hanging there like a bloody great sack. I was there, never fear. Even found me this fine souvenir."

He handed Harry a ring, which he recognized immediately.

"I know this! This was mine! This is surely some heavenly sign!" Harry exclaimed, placing the ring on his right pinky. It still fit.

"One thing more, mark this well. It was the night that the barricades fell!" Aberforth told Harry.

"Then it's true. Then I'm right. Sirius Black was my savior that night!" Harry mused to himself.

He then punched Aberforth and threw money at him.

"As for you, take this too! Merlin forgive me the things that we do!" Harry told Aberforth. He then went to find Luna. "Come my love, come Luna. This day's blessings are not over yet!"

The two of them left and got into a carriage that would take them to where Sirius was.

Aberforth turned to Umbridge, placing a handkerchief on his bloody nose.

"_Ain't it a laugh, ain't it a treat?  
Hob-nobbin' here among the elite?  
Here comes a prince, there goes a Jew  
This one's a queer, but what can you do?_

_Hogwarts at my feet, Hogwarts in the dust  
And here's me breaking bread with the  
Upper crust_!" Aberforth sang.

"_Beggar at the feast! Master of the dance!  
Life is easy pickings if you grab your chance.  
Everywhere you go  
Law-abiding folk  
Doing what is decent  
But they're mostly broke_!" Umbridge joined in.

"_Singing to Merlin on Sundays  
Praying for the gifts He'll send  
But we're the ones who take it  
We're the ones who make it in the end!  
Watch the buggers dance  
Watch 'em til they drop  
Keep your wits about you  
And you stand on top!  
Masters of the land  
Always get our share  
Clear away the barricades  
And we're still there!  
We know where the wind is blowing  
Money is the stuff we smell!  
And when we're rich as Molly  
Helga! Won't we see you all in hell_!" Aberforth and Umbridge sang in unison as they were carried out of the wedding party by guards.

In the carriage, meanwhile, Harry and Luna prayed they weren't too late to see Sirius. Harry looked over at Luna and squeezed her hand, letting her know that everything was all right._  
_


	44. Finale

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR  
(chapter title – Finale)

Meanwhile, in the hospital, Sirius sat in a very comfortable armchair and looked straight ahead. The sun was setting, making the sky before him look like a beautiful painting.

"_Alone, I wait in the shadows  
I count the hours til I sleep  
I dreamed a dream Luna stood by  
It made her weep to know I died  
Alone at the end of the day  
Upon this wedding night I pray  
Take these children Merlin, to thy embrace  
And show them grace_

_Merlin on high  
Hear my prayer  
Take me now to thy care  
Where you are, let me be  
Take me now  
Take me there  
Bring me home  
Bring me home_." Sirius sang, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, Penny was standing in front of him, looking as she did when Sirius first saw her – long golden hair, big hazel eyes and a sweet smile.

"Good sir, I bless your name." Penny told Sirius.

"I am ready, Penny." Sirius whispered.

"Good sir, lay down your burden." Penny said, smiling.

"At the end of my days." Sirius said, finding the strength to stay awake until Luna arrived.

"You raised my child in love." Penny told Sirius, tears forming in her eyes.

"She's the best of my life." Sirius told her.

"And you will be with Merlin." Penny said as she disappeared.

It was then that Luna rushed in with Harry trailing not too far behind her.

"Papa, Papa, I do not understand. Are you all right? They said you'd gone away!" Luna told her father, looking into his deep chocolate-brown eyes.

"Luna, my girl, am I forgiven now? Thank Merlin, thank Merlin I've lived to see this day!" Sirius praised, hugging Luna close to him.

"_It's you who must forgive a thoughtless fool!  
It's you who must forgive a thankless man!  
It's thanks to you that I am living  
And again, I lay down my life at your feet!  
Luna, your father is a saint  
When they wounded me  
He took me from the barricade  
Carried like a babe  
And brought me home to you_." Harry sang to Luna. She felt tears in her eyes as she turned to her father.

Sirius gently squeezed Luna's hand and held it.

"_Now, you are here  
Again beside me  
Now I can die in peace  
For now my life is blessed_!" Sirius sang. The tears were falling quickly. Harry put an arm around Luna's shoulders, bringing her closer to him.

"You will live, Papa, you're going to live! It's too soon, too soon to say goodbye!" Luna told her father between sobs.

"_Yes, Luna, forbid me now to die! I'll obey. I will try.  
On this page, I write my last confession. Read it well  
When I at last am sleeping  
It's the story of one who turned from hating  
And only began to learn to love  
When you were in his keeping_." Sirius sang, handing Luna a folded piece of paper. He then put a finger on her nose as she continued crying.

Penny appeared and put a hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"_Come with me where chains will never bind you!  
All your grief, at last, at last behind you!  
Merlin in heaven, look down on him in mercy_!" Penny's sweet voice filled the entire room. She looked over at Luna and smiled – Sirius did a wonderful job raising her.

"_Forgive me of my trespasses and take me to your glory_!" Sirius sang before he died. Luna shook her father's shoulder as Harry sat next to her, taking her in his arms.

Penny guided him to what looked like the church where he met the bishop. A girl he assumed was Ginny appeared, smiling. She wore the same outfit she died in, but she looked happier and healthier.

"_Take my hand, I'll lead you to salvation!  
Take my love, for love is everlasting_!" the two women sang as the Bishop appeared, smiling.

"_And remember, the truth that once was spoken  
To love another person is to see the face of God_!" the Bishop joined in, embracing Sirius.

He didn't hear it at first, because it was so soft, but he thought he heard voices singing. He took a step beyond the church, following Ginny and Penny.

"_Do you hear the people sing  
Lost in the valley of the night  
It is the music of a people  
Who are climbing to the light  
For the wretched of the earth  
There is a flame that never dies  
Even the darkest night will end  
And the sun will rise_!" a chorus of voices greeted Sirius' ears. Beyond the courtyard of the church, there was a giant barricade where all the ones who died in the Revolution were singing and waving flags.

Sirius smiled as Ginny handed him a flag. Sirius looked over and thought he saw Severus standing on the edge of the barricade, also waving a flag.

"_They will live again in freedom  
In the garden of Merlin  
They will walk behind the crop share  
They will put away the sword  
The chain will be broken  
And all men will have their reward_!" the singing grew louder. Sirius continued smiling as he wove his flag in the air.

"_Will you join in our crusade?  
Who will be strong and stand with me?  
Somewhere beyond the barricade  
Is there a world you long to see?  
Do you hear the people sing?  
Say, do you hear the distant drums?  
It is the future that they bring  
When tomorrow comes!_

_Will you join in our crusade?  
Who will be strong and stand with me?  
Somewhere beyond the barricade  
Is there a world you long to see?  
Do you hear the people sing?  
Say, do you hear the distant drums?  
It is the future that they bring  
When tomorrow comes!_

_Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh  
Tomorrow comes_!" everybody sang.

Sirius knew that he was now home.


	45. Epilogue

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE  
(chapter title – Epilogue)

_A year later_

Harry sat behind Luna and stroked her hair. She had been in labor for two hours and was getting nowhere. Harry kissed Luna's cheek as the doctor checked the positioning again.

"Harry!" Luna cried.

"I'm right here. It's all right." Harry soothed, rubbing Luna's back.

Five hours later, Luna held her son for the first time. She handed him to Harry when she felt a strong contraction and felt something else come out of her.

"It's a girl." The doctor announced, cutting the baby's cord and wrapped her in a blanket before handing her to Luna. "Both of them are healthy, so if you want me to go, I will."

Harry thanked the doctor and watched him leave.

"What shall we call them?" Harry asked as he picked up his daughter.

"Would you like to name one?" Luna inquired, her voice hoarse.

"May I name our little boy?" Harry questioned. Luna nodded and watched her daughter nurse. "Welcome to the world James Sirius. James for my father and Sirius for Luna's father."

"Harry, that's beautiful!" Luna whispered, continuing to watch her daughter nurse. "Hello, Penelope Rose. Penelope for my mother and Rose, because I really love the name."

That night, Harry and Luna barely got any sleep – both babies needed or wanted something. Luna said she would feed and burp them and Harry was glad to change and rock them.

When the twins turned three, Luna delivered a son that the couple named Remus Hugo. When the twins were six and Remus was three, Luna delivered a little girl that she and Harry named Ginerva Claire.

* * *

Aberforth and Umbridge ended up dying in jail. Aberforth from an infection and Umbridge from an unknown disease.

* * *

Remus – Harry's uncle – lived to see Luna have Ginerva before passing away from a heart attack. He was 56 years old.

* * *

_There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!_


End file.
